You Were Never Here Before
by Kariko Emma
Summary: Even if things were different, wouldn't they really be the same? An accident causes things to get wierd in Konohagakure and the world.
1. Black 1

**You Were Never Here Before**

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**Author's Note:** Inspired by the novel 'Q-Squared' by Peter David. I felt like giving Konoha a crazy week along those lines. Even if things were different, wouldn't they really be the same? By the way, a personal achievement, this is the first longer story (ever) I typed rather than wrote. Meaning, I didn't write it first (in a notebook) and then type it in as I usually do with long stories like this. I still prefer it the other way, but this was new and fun for me. (And probably a lot quicker and easier, DUH.) (…I don't have a laptop. That should explain something to you.) And lastly, go read _Q-Squared_. Go. Read it. It is AWESOME. It is a wonderful, brilliant, and fun read like 'I,Q,'. (Go, read.) (…Seriously, go.)

Post-it note: Reading into this, I know you'll be able to judge when in time this story takes place. And lastly…please forgive me. Sixty chapters is a first. In addition to spending copious amounts of time proofing this, I also eventually decided that posting each chapter was the best way to go. Please forgive me! I'm super sorry! (And I only hope ff dot net doesn't botch this too bad-I seriously apologize.) This story was a freaking nightmare to proof. (And to upload.) Please forgive me.

**Thank you:** The _Leafninja _website, for being there with your extensive biography section when I forgot a few names and things.

**For:** You, if you have come with me this far. Thank you. I hope you get a laugh and a smile outta this exceptionally crazy concoction.

**Disclaimer:** Don't own Naruto. Thank you ff dot net for giving us this vehicle. (I love S-U-_V_s.) (lol!).

**Genre:**Crazy Stupid Don't you wonder Interesting.

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**Rated:** Only for very strong language usage and colorful metaphors. Because the situations really required it and Jiraiya just couldn't help himself.

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_If they give you ruled paper, write the other way.  
><em>Juan Ramón Jiménez_  
><em>

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_Black_

1.

Sarutobi was outside, looking at the trees of the village, admiring his life.

Not in a vain sort of way, no nothing like that. But after looking up at each of the mountain faces, he was reminded of how lucky and privileged he was. Shodaime, cool and level-headed had a wife too, and somehow managed to form the mold of this city while under pressure from all sorts of leaders and all kinds of threats from all kinds of persons. What an older brother to look up to. Nidaime, he was more humorous than his brother. What kinds of tricks he might have played on the former, "I don't know," Sarutobi laughed. "But I wish I could have known," Determined and resolute, he was an unwavering figure on the battlefield, dedicated to his family and those in need of protection. How strong-willed and free. Sarutobi's own face was next to Nidai's on the mountain. "I am Sandaime," said Sarutobi, smiling, "I hope history remembers me well!" Next to him, was the young face of a charming lad who was powerful in his own right. Even-tempered, just, and moral of good faith and good character. He was a grateful sort of young man, modest, and the most wonderful man and choice to continue leading the village hidden in the leaves. His power matched Sarutobi's own, if not greater. "Such a powerful, peaceful, young man," Sarutobi recalled the striking yellow hair and the defined face.

The night was getting on; the sun had almost set over the horizon of trees. The cool breeze was Heavenly as Sarutobi coasted through the shadows looming around the streets and beneath the trees, walking onward. He often took these walks in hopes of clearing his mind of the newest treaties, the gossips of leadership, the fads, and the threats of the day. He stayed attuned to each of these things. Even the fads. Though he let his wife decide an opinion on those and agreed with her. Usually.

Overhead, tree leaves rustled. Sarutobi stopped with an easy sigh when suddenly he noticed the Hatake coming over to him. "I'm sorry to disturb you sir," he said, aware of the walks Sarutobi took from time to time, "But I wonder if I might have a small word with you."

"Of course," Sarutobi entreated, speaking for the first time since suppertime. "What is it?"

The man's thin, lanky frame never changed. Even under the shadow of the leaves hovering overhead, he was entirely muscle and bone under rich dark indigo fabric hanging loosely on him. The headband plate he wore around his head was nearly the same color as his hair, a whitish silver like the chains of the silver necklace Sarutobi's wife wore around her neck over her robes. He spoke in a calm but direct tone tonight, "I believe I know where the enemy is hiding."

"…Oh?" was Sarutobi's first response.

The Hatake nodded.

Sarutobi began walking again along the path, and the thin figure followed beside him. "I thought we told you to let this go," Sarutobi picked up casually. "After all, chances are he will strike again."

"Yes. I know. But I…" He strayed away from the details. "I believe I know where he is hiding," he reiterated.

"…Really," remarked Sarutobi calmly, but with interest. "You believe you know."

"Yes sir, I believe I do."

"What do you want me to do about it?"

"I would like permission to go. And find out."

"…Oh?" said Sarutobi, without expecting a response. "I assume you have spoken with Yondaime."

"Yes sir."

"And he told you no."

"Yes sir, he did."

"Rightly so. To go…by yourself? What are you thinking?" Sarutobi stopped and looked at him curiously. He smiled, watching the stuff behind the man's eyes never change. He too was a man with the makings of determination and crazy behind his eyes, having already proved himself in countless battles with countless foes, never forgetting his kindness or conviction. Sarutobi admired him greatly, still young as he was.

"I was thinking how easy it would be to get in and get out unnoticed. And then to face him, in battle. I think I have a chance."

"You always did like to tackle these things alone…" said Sarutobi with a smile in the words. "But really, to go _alone?_ I fear you'll go rogue one day."

"Sir…I would never, ever go rogue," Hatake disavowed, looking mortified.

"Rogue with depression. Rogue with madness. Going rogue doesn't always mean to another country or to another village."

"Sir…" he began, having had this conversation, in so many words, before. "I'm fine. Hell, they say I'm happy."

"They say," Sarutobi repeated. "They say you go from one mission to the next."

"Because they say I'm the best."

The Hatake did not boast. He was not boasting now. They did indeed say he was the best. He was still young, but he was a mature man. What the mature men could handle was more than the young men. Sarutobi knew this well. Sarutobi watched the night for a moment. "What about your wife? And child?"

Sakumo hesitated. Finally, he looked downward, appreciating a walk he didn't know how to take, and a lie he did not have experience telling. "They say they can take care of the harvest should I not return in time."

For a moment, Sarutobi said nothing, allowing the silence to reinforce the gravity of his words. "Sakumo, I know you must want this, but I too must say no—"

"Oh sir please," Hatake Sakumo begged. "Please, only _you_—"

"Spend some time with your wife, Sakumo. Or is that what you've been running away from?"

Sakumo fought the silence with a shifting of his stance. Formerly straight, his head began to incline downward. "Sir, you…You don't understand…"

"What don't I understand? You know how I make it a point to keep up with the workings of this village even though I am no longer its leader. Please, tell me your problems."

The Hatake looked up to see a kind gaze in the older man's eyes and Sakumo thus appeared more crestfallen than before. "…Kakashi is thirteen," he said aloud, like the fact was foreign to him. "Ever since he made chuunin, all he can think about is becoming _jounin_."

"Teenage boys…are all the same," Sarutobi chuckled, speaking from experience.

"Yes, well," Sakumo looked askance into the woods on his left. "I don't like it, but there's nothing I can do about it. I've tried everything. I—I am frustrated, and my wife—she won't do anything about it. I even thought…"

Sarutobi gazed at him expectantly.

"I have even thought, of leaving them," Sakumo declared.

Two gulls flew overhead—Sakumo looked up into the orange sky, hearing their goofy calls. Were they a couple? Of course they were, flying off into the sunset together, going over the treeline in the distance where cicadas began screaming two by two. Sarutobi murmured. "I was right."

"…Of course," Sakumo supplied. "That's one of the many advantages of being omniscient." The two men shared a smile. Sarutobi looked up. "Retirement didn't suit you. But this doesn't either. Sakumo, what will we do with you?"

"I hope to God it doesn't end in a trial, but I want you to know that I would do _anything_ for this village. Even disavow myself one more time." Sakumo watched Sarutobi turn his head painfully. "You are younger than me," said Hizuren firmly. "And yet you talk like this is your last battle." Sakumo flinched away; "Maybe it is." he murmured. Sarutobi's jaw tightened. "I don't know Sakumo. Perhaps we'll leave it to you." The conversation was over. Stalemate…?

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	2. Black 2

_Black_

2.

Orochimaru watched his unwilling companion.

He was the only companion he had, in this place in this time. He was the only companion he could really trust, too. Those kinds of minions—_companions_ were hard to find. The man crooned. Bemoaned. Complained. Refused. A lot. He was the most skillful aid Orochimaru could have found let alone somewhat-employ in the work of darkness and the pursuit of immortality. Since being banished for both, Orochimaru worked steadily, and happily as one could, undetected. But his aid, his companion was of great help to him. Great help. And by help, mainly companionship for the loneliness of the dark. He was quiet, this companion and aid. He was strong. As anyone should be in his place. He was also stubborn, arrogant, and moony; reluctant to aide such darkness, but having no other home since his…regretful act of treason, he had been banished. And so forth, finally turned to Orochimaru.

The sunset could not penetrate their place tonight, underground, surrounded by the candles and open scrolls of ancient texts in grey and yellow ink. A humid smell hung over the place, deep and dark, and cold too. The ground was brown, and the walls grey. "Haven't you gone out today?" Orochimaru asked him.

The man did not respond at first. Only after turning to the dark haired, pale faced and yellow-eyed master, did he look and see the bright colors and symbols the master was painting on the walls. "I did go out today. The sun," said the man wistfully, "Shone."

"Oh," Orochimaru remarked, disappointed.

"I almost ran today."

Orochimaru suddenly smiled to himself, facing the wall, writing.

"I did," the man said with more conviction in his voice. "I almost ran and told them where you were. Where I was."

"Why didn't you?" asked Orochimaru with an air of already knowing the answer.

"…Her."

Orochimaru chuckled as quietly as he could.

"Shut up," spat the man violently. And then he slouched in his favorite spot in the corner, taking out a black blade, a kunai, and sat there and twirled it with his finger through the circle on the end. "What the hell do _you_ know about love. You've been pursuing the epitomes of ninjutsu."

"Precisely. And if it weren't for you, my dear friend, I wouldn't be this close."

"Don't call me a friend you monkey bat _murderer!_" His companion roared, then moaned as if he were in pain, sheathing his kunai as if worried he'd stab his knee. His eyes glazed over with sadness and rage for his situation. "I hate you," he seethed, glaring at Orochimaru's back.

Orochimaru turned, with a calm smile, as his snake like voice said peacefully, "Then why don't you kill me?"

The man scowled. "I only wish!" he blurted in rage. "I'll take you with me! And this hell-hole to boot! They'll never find you and your…research. Then I'll be laughing."

"But then you'd be dead."

"Where I should be."

"Tsk, tsk," Orochimaru turned and stared at the writing on the wall. "I've been wondering why you haven't ended it," he mused, looking over the symbols. "Or run."

"…I told you. I can't. I'm a fugitive. The moment a leaf ninja sees me, he'll take me into court. They'll re-sentence me to prison, and you know how prison isn't really my thing, although," he looked up at the four walls surrounding the two of them, "This isn't much different." The man's eyes took on a glossy cover. "And besides. To know _her_ there, with her head in shame. And my heart in shame. I couldn't bear it…"

"…Jiraiya. It's not like you succeeded. Dan isn't dead. They stopped you."

"I know…But it's the thought that counted. I was…I had been ready…to do it…I just…I just wanted her so much…It finally drove me crazy…to see_ them_…_together_…"

"I know," said Orochimaru. "Pity—"

"SHUT UP!" Jiraiya screamed, "I am nothing like you!"

Orochimaru smirked, and wrote again, containing a belly laugh.

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	3. Black 3

_Black_

3.

Back in the village the next morning, a boy around six years old beamed under his own very natural gray hair, "Thank you, Lady Tsunade!" and with that, ran back to his parents, probably downstairs waiting in the lobby.

Tsunade waved, "Bye Kabuto!" She shook her head, smiling. Yakushi Kabuto was a new and young student in the medicinal arts, skilled in putting band-aids on booboos, gauze around puncture wounds, and tape across his teddy bears. The boy had no fear of blood, and he had a fine enough chakra to secure him a fine position one day on the field. He had just asked her for another tape roll (for God knows what, he wouldn't say), and being in a frivolous mood, she gave it to him. Turning, she filed some paperwork after a couple patients who were new arrivals and turned out the door, not wishing to miss her husband's important meeting. Dan was counting on her being there. After instituting special field training classes for the advanced in regards to medical ninjutsu, he was hoping to up the ante of their accomplishments as husband and wife and pitch the idea for an inter-training exercise with the friendly Sunagakure and their medical corps. Tsunade knew how much her presence would validate and perhaps secure such an interesting project. Renewed cooperation had yet to be seen between the two villages in some time. But Tsunade had her doubts.

While Dan was convinced this was the way to move forward, a part of her wanted to be isolated. She hurried nonetheless through the village. The meeting was where the chuunin exams were always held, the written portion anyway, inside the Academy. It's not like Konohagakure could expect to meet Sunagakure in, say, the Forest of Death. How precarious and foreboding would that be? Both Tsunade's body and her smile receded when a Konoha ninja, a young one, waved to get her attention. "Forgive me Tsunade-sama!" said the young boy with an immediate awkward bow of his neck and shoulders over his feet still seeking a proper balance on the pavement.

"Uchiha…Obito," Tsunade recalled.

Obito seemed genuinely flabbergasted Princess Tsunade remembered his name. _His_ name.** His** name. HIS _NAME!_ Wait until he jeered about this at Kakashi! Obito's blush over came his face despite his determined attempt to hide it. "UM—My dad told me to tell you if I saw you that Nawaki-sama and the others have arrived near their destination ma'am! He said they'll probably move to secure the Kannabi Bridge later tonight, toward dusk."

"…Oh," said Tsunade, a flutter of relief coming and quickly going. "Nawaki…" she murmured, remembering his intense fight to get the mission, beating not only Sakumo but Yondaime Hokage himself who had wanted to take his growing students including Hatake Kakashi and this Uchiha boy and another to the area. "How foolish," she had said. At least Nawaki was grown up now and accomplished. He was very much like his father, and his before. "Thank you," she came back to reality slowly.

This little Uchiha boy, no more than thirteen or fourteen didn't wear anything around his neck. There was no necklace there, rare and expensive, once belonging to Shodaime, her grandfather. She noticed this. She noticed this young man's eyes, behind bright orange goggles no less, had the same hopeful and buoyant look in them as Nawaki's did, who continued to dream of being Hokage one day, wearing Shodaime's necklace. Few ninja dreamed that big. A shame. Tsunade suddenly wished to know if this Uchiha was one of them, so she asked him, "Uchiha Obito," she said, "Do you ever wish of being Hokage, someday?"

The young man's mouth opened for a moment until he stammered lengthily, "Umm…Uh…Well…I don't know…I…"

"You wouldn't want to be Hokage? Not even for a day?" she smiled to show she wasn't being too serious with him. Good God, she didn't want to scare the poor little guy.

"Well…sure!" said Obito, clenching his right fist, "I'd love to! That'd be really awesome! I mean, I'm studying…"

Tsunade's look encouraged him to continue.

"I mean I might—I'm_ thinking _about," he stammered, correcting, "apprenticing, with the police force. But I'd love to be Hokage someday."

Tsunade smiled warmly. "Well then. I don't have anything lucky to give out anymore, except…" She knelt over in the same way he had done, her head coming down gracefully over his and her lips touched his forehead. "…A lucky kiss might do. Now run along," she straightened; the yellow sunshine cast an ethereal glow on her honey blonde hair, and her figure full and slender.

Obito tried not to melt on the pavement. He took a few clumsy steps backwards (nearly tripping), and swallowed, unsure of what else to say or do but to 'run along'. Finally he smiled oddly and ran along. Tsunade chuckled. "Oh now what was I doing…? Oh, yes," she remembered, feeling less enthusiastic by the second. Sighing, she turned and hurried along (slowly), thinking of her little brother out there in the wild with an Uchiha and an Akimichi man. Suddenly she knew she felt she would have given anything to be with them right now. How tied down she was to the village lately, Tsunade contemplated. How utterly boring and slow it is around here! Graahh! Tsunade stopped and instead walked onward, uncaring how late she was. "What I wouldn't do to go shopping in Tanzaku!" she said aloud, complaining up toward the dazzling blue sky. All the little things began to sparkle in her imagination, sitting on the stands and under glass. "Go somewhere, _do_ something!" she said aloud, thinking of clothes and rocks and sunsets over miles of lake and salt water. "Not stupid meetings and stupid…_sh_…Oh…" Tsunade quieted her voice as she saw someone walking toward her, going the other way on the sidewalk. "Sakumo-san," she said.

"Tsunade-sama," he nodded, appearing to be in a hurry, shielding his face by turning it toward the other end of the lane.

"…Where are you going?"

Sakumo bit his lip. "Out."

Tsunade stopped and stared, watching him continue on. Tsunade cast her eyes down and walked onward again slowly, knowing she had to go and get the meeting over with. She looked behind her again, and the jounin was nearly out of sight. His behaviour really worried her. But Sakumo was never one for conversation. She doubted he'd want to tell her his hurry. She didn't want to tell him hers.

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	4. Black 4

_Black_

4.

Dan did not waste time asking what had taken her so long, instead he made the best of it and introduced her though she really needed no introduction. "…Chiyo-san," Tsunade smiled. "I had no idea _you_ were going to be here."

"Tsunade-san," said the young Chiyo. "I could smell your perfume coming in, what a stench!" she laughed. "Where'd you get it?"

Tsunade could feel her husband's internal grimace as if it were really standing beside him like a falling balloon, losing air. The other men too, one leaf shinobi and two Suna shinobi frowned as well in a coy sort of way. But Chiyo's impish nature was legendary as she clapped her hands and grinned. "Now I'm only doing this for your brother's sake," she interjected suddenly. "He did do me a favor, so I suppose I can do his elder sister a little one by lending my ear—" she tugged on it and it came off much to the leaf shinobi's sudden surprise near Dan, having been ready in case the appendage were an explosive or something. But the ear fell on the ground, harmless. ''—Plop! Ha ha ha!" she laughed, reveling in the mood.

_Apparently somebody wanted to be at this meeting after all_, Tsunade thought. "All right then, I _am_ sorry I'm late," Tsunade faked her apologies, "Where were we…?"

"Coming out of the gallows humor, I think," suggested Dan with a firm look in his eyes at Chiyo. Tsunade glanced at him quickly. Despite how much it annoyed her too, his words kindled some sheepish embarrassment in her eyes at his lack of levity. Tsunade could only brace herself in case Chiyo suddenly asked her something like, "Why in blazes did you marry **this** _dunce?_"

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"Why in the world isn't she here yet?" asked a dark-haired woman after looking at the clock over the doorway a fourth time. The small little tugs at the bottom and around her eyes made her look more furious than perhaps she wanted to let on. She was a patient woman…normally. "…Nurse?" she said, expecting an answer.

"Well, there was going to be a meeting today, in which Lady Tsunade would be present. I can't tell you if that was today or tomorrow…it was very secret."

"Great, a secret meeting," Mikoto fell down on the chair beside the hospital bed, first unclasping and then re-clasping her hands as if they were useless and didn't know what exactly to do with them. "I _assumed_ she would be in for our usual check-up," she stated plainly, keeping her exasperated sigh as silent as possible. Upon looking at the little figure directly beside her, she rubbed the forehead of her four-year-old son tenderly, wiping away the long bangs on either side of his shadow-gray eyebrows. She saw him look at her with a faint smile on his face, and then it faded as he turned to look at the ceiling and then to the window, where he could see tree leaves, sky, and the shadows of birds floating across both.

"Shall I summon another healer? Perhaps there were instructions left behind we didn't…notice…"

"Yes," Mikoto spoke, "That might be a very good idea." She said, controlling her tone of voice.

"Yes, ma'am," the nurse inclined her head as a nod and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Mikoto rolled her eyes. "Stupid…" she muttered spitefully.

"It's okay, mama," said her son indifferently. He shrugged a shoulder. "I feel fine today."

Mikoto shook her head. "You say that everyday, Itachi, don't, please," she looked him in the eyes unwaveringly. "Don't even start."

So Uchiha Itachi closed his mouth and stared at the outside world, watching it spin.

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Minato was getting ready to leave.

Leaving. Coming and going was easy with him, thanks to his juutsu Hiraishin. Did the waiter bring us to another bad table, again? FLASH! He did _not_ just walk in on Danzou with his girlfriend again in the conference room, oh God, FLASH! Minato's wife had been expecting flowers? Oops, FLASH, FLASH! "Here you are sweetheart," he would smile _(I knew I forgot something…). _Her eyes grinned, and then she boffed him up the head with them, the petals spewing onto the carpet of the floor almost as beet red as her hair, "You clueless idiot!" she squealed, and then rambled on about something he forgot to say or do which had obviously been important to her. But she relented after a while and they made up. But he always put a seal up on the roof in case she came at him again…He needed those seals to help get around with this special technique. And so it was on this night. In a few minutes, he'd be fifteen miles away from fifty Iwa nin and five Konoha shinobi.

His wife stared at him from behind, watching him gather all his weapons, and all his seals, and all his means, and all his silent prayers. He could tell by her unnatural reserve that this was what she was doing. Though he was a thin figure, his frame happened to block out her face from the dressing mirror. "Nawaki-sama should be getting close to Kannabi now," he said, mainly for something to say.

Behind him, she nodded, bringing up her knuckles to her chin, admiring his white and red cloak.

"Is that for me?" he pointed to the small brown satchel on the desk.

Behind him she nodded.

He took it, after a hesitation, and looked inside. Minato grinned. "I'll have to hide these from Chouza, if…when I rendezvous with them," Minato corrected. "He might steal them in the middle of the night…Thank you Kushina…for the sweets…" Minato turned—Kushina looked the other way, a sort of hazy smile on her lips, her hand falling to her other one on her lap. She still had not changed from her mauve dress to her favorite turquoise yukata she always threw on at this time of night. The same one that she said clashed with her hair, yet looked so good at night, shining with all the colors of an ocean.

"…I'll be back," he said, sitting on the bed with all his gear poking his thigh in odd places. "As soon as I can."

She nodded quietly, looking up at him finally, and smiling. "Maybe you should take our fridge."

Minato chuckled. "It wouldn't be a bad idea. Shall I place a seal on it?"

Kushina giggled. "I can just picture myself, the minute I go to get some milk at midnight, POOF!" she threw up her arms, "I'd scream, _MINAAATOOO!"_

They laughed hysterically, breaking the glassy tension in the room.

Kushina picked up the shards a while later after their laughter died down and threw her arms around him, kissing him fervently on his cheek and mouth, "Come back soon then, okay?"

He nodded. "I will."

She smiled, easing off him after a while. "I love you," she said, ardently.

"I love you," he returned the same feeling that was in her voice. "I'll miss you."

"I miss you _already_," She declared; her smiling face adoring his.

Minato eased off the bed after a moment.

They both went outside.

They said goodbye.

They kissed.

Flash.

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	5. White 1

_White_

1.

Swirling. It was spinning. Wildly. Rapidly. The images inside flicked on over trees and hills, people, and places like changing the image on an expensive television set. Images, one after another. He noticed the movement inside the ball while he was waiting. He thought he could ignore it. But did it ever really do that before? In such rapid succession? Swirling—it was as if there was tangible foam inside, rolling over and over again like the white on waves. Crashing—another image—Crash, another image. Crash, an explosion. The young man looked at it now in rapt surprise. Crash—the village mourned, faces and tears. The young man held his breath. Crash—the Kumo nin invading the northern border of Konoha eight months ago, their General. Crash—a celebrity touring the south end of the Land of Fire. Crash—a dark forest. Crash—the glittering water like in Taki. Faster the images came. Then it would slow, fixing in on something mundane like a loaded wagon of hay and horses coming down the lane. Then, it would speed up again. Foaming up and regurgitating something different. He moved even closer to it, unable to tear his eyes from the stationary globe. "What…the…" he murmured.

"What are you doing over there?"

The boy jolted, "Nothing."

Sarutobi skewed his head to look behind. "Oh. That," he said. "What does it show you?" He approached both the young man and the little globe upon his desk sitting on it's cushion.

"I don't know," he said uncertainly.

Sarutobi inspected it, sitting behind his desk in the big chair. He waved his hand over it rather mysteriously. The foam cleared, blue and white it flicked like a wave upon the ocean, coming upon the beach. In shades of brown it showed a portion of the perimeter outside the Hokage's tower where they were now. Then, Sandaime moved his old hand subtly, and the image inside the globe showed himself and Kakashi inside the Hokage's room.

"How…does it..?" The young Hatake murmured.

Sandaime smiled, removing his hands. "Is this about your report?"

"Yes sir," Kakashi returned to his original state of mind, took the scroll from the inside of his vest, and set it upon the Hokage's desk. Sandaime took it, opened it, and frowned. Kakashi bit his lip under his mask to keep from saying anything. His eyes glanced at the hiragana and kanji on the wall momentarily. It was all done by Sandaime. The man had many gifts. Patience, was fortunately, something they both shared.

Sarutobi read almost to the bottom before speaking, "The gold…and silver, were lost then."

The Hatake nodded.

"How did the princess take it?"

Kakashi had to choose a word. "…Well."

"Do you think she'll hold us accountable?"

The young Kakashi shook his head. "No."

"What makes you say that?"

"Because Pakkun is still with her sir."

Sarutobi could not contain a grin. He chuckled. "Very nice," He rolled up the scroll and performed a ninjutsu to seal the contents. "Put that with the rest," Kakashi took it back. "Still," said the Hokage, "If her father comes calling—we'll give him a week or so—you," he pointed to the young man, "will be a very poor man."

"I understand," Kakashi said, a faint smile on his hidden face, relived with Sarutobi's answer.

"Good," Sarutobi smiled, "Thank you for doing that. You've grown into a very fine ninja. And in a few days, barring any lawsuits…" Sarutobi smiled wryly, "We will promote you to the official rank of jounin." He spent a moment looking at the small size version of Sakumo standing there before him, awaiting a dismissal. Kakashi's hair was unruly too, but trimmed in the back. Even less of his face could be seen through the indigo blue mask and hitai-ate over his young forehead. What a shinobi. Everything about him looked refined and proper. Everything about him had changed somewhat since the death of his father five years ago. Though he was determined not to make mistakes, one or two always found him now and then like stepping in rain puddles.

But the young man was astoundingly strong. And also extremely tactful like his father had been, as proof lately. "…You asked how this thing works?" Sarutobi obliged him, feeling frivolous.

Kakashi's eye caught the sheen of the globe. It's movement had seemed to stall since Sandaime hovered his hands over it. "…Yes?"

"…It is a great secret," Sarutobi whispered.

Kakashi grinned to himself. He bowed his head and left. Dismissed.

.

Mitokado Homura walked in while later, "Here is the list," he said, laying it down on Sarutobi's desk. The ball had calmed by now, and Sarutobi was leisurely painting on white paper against the back wall. "You asked about the genin."

"Yes, I did. Thank you Homura."

"Would you mind going for a walk?"

"Is there something you wish to discuss?"

He shrugged. "Not necessarily."

"I can tell what that means, old friend," Sarutobi smiled. He got up and set his brush in a can of water beside the picture. "Who is it this time? Danzou? The Kumo General? Don't tell me they're both making threats again…" Sarutobi picked up his pipe and followed Homura.

Homura smiled at his friend's unabashed candor. "It is about our enemy. One of them anyway. We think we know where he is."

"Oh?" Sarutobi walked out with him. "That's something new."

.


	6. White 2

_White_

2.

He was still looking for a permanent place. A place to do all those dark things he was hiding out from beneath the warmth of light.

The first place he discovered had been very nice. It suited his needs and the acquisition had been free and painless. He moved in. And then he was discovered. He barely escaped.

Damn leaf ninja.

The he moved further north, and a little to the west. He looked up and down the map in his mind he took with him everywhere. Taki. Sure. Taki is a nice place. It's a nice place in the winter, it's a fragrant place in the spring, and a moving, blue one in summer. But oh no. Orochi had to get there in the _fall_. And _who_ just happened to be there on his vacation?

Damn ANBU.

West or east. Instinctively, he ran eastward. There were plenty of places to hide, after all. He picked one and stayed there for a while. Considering. He almost unpacked before he changed his mind and headed further east.

"A rogue shinobi is in these parts," said a man at the tavern. "Though I shouldn't say 'shinobi'. That word is reserved for the honorable of them."

"This one was never honorable?"

"Maybe at some point. Who knows."

"Oh."

"I've heard the word _sannin_ mentioned. That only refers to three ninja in entire existence. Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade."

"Those three, eh?"

"Indeed."

"I always wondered why it was those three."

"They were students of Sandaime."

"Yeah. But they could have sent anybody else in the world. What made those three so special?"

Orochimaru had an answer. But he refrained from giving it. Instead he slipped out quietly to the barracks of nightfall. He traveled south. Quite near the land of waves. Traffic flow was great. He would not be seen. He concealed himself under disguise to ensure his privacy.

He spent three days there, and upon returning, heard the familiar cackle.

"No wonder the people here have one-track minds—all they eat is fish!" she laughed over her own clever little joke. "Man what I wouldn't give for Sunagakure cuisine!" she drooled.

"We will be there in a week or so."

"No _soon_ enough," she chanted. "I mean, what was the point of that anyway? They're not going to import the herbs we need. Phooey! Fish-heads!" she exclaimed a curse and a rude hand gesture behind her head.

Orochimaru stepped out, and then he smiled, feeling the Suna nin's blade against his back. The feeling always seemed to give him a rush no matter who was behind it.

Chiyo gave a start. "…You!"

Her brother acted ready beside her.

"…What exactly…did you need…?" Orochimaru smiled pleasantly.

After a moment, Chiyo moved her hand for the blade to back off a little. It was a bold thing to do considering Orochimaru's missing-nin status. Her brother spoke her name. "Yes, I know," said Chiyo. "But he was awful polite."

Orochimaru smiled, and blinked his yellow eyes slowly, like a cat.

Chiyo took out a list from her pocket, walked up to him, and put it in his hand, staring at him all the while with unblinking eyes. "That."

"This?"

She nodded. "Perhaps we'll talk later then."

"Perhaps," he welcomed.

She nodded once, and then jerked her head to her two companions. "Let's go."

Her brother's objections spat out moments later but Chiyo waved them off. "He's a missing-nin. And I need that stuff. Work it out," she said as they were walking away.

"The grey cells have been working sister dear, and they tell me that it is not a good combo," he said rationally in her ear.

"You can't honestly say Konohagakure is our ally."

"We're not at war with them at the moment, no."

Chiyo stopped, and turned to him, "_Hatake Sakumo_ was a _leaf ninja_, and do you remember what he did dear brother? He MURDERED my _**SON**_**.**"

With that, she walked onward.

The men looked at each other and said nothing, and followed.

.

Orochimaru read the list so much so that he memorized it. Not only was he free, he was getting lucky too. What a potential ally Sunagakure could be. "Oh yes," he said. "Very good."

But a kink in his travails soon sent him doubling back, losing time. The man just had to appear out of nowhere again. What a big clumsy fool. "We'll meet again someday," whispered Orochi in the shadows, "…But not today."

He moved inside after a pause.

Damn Jiraiya.

.


	7. White 3

_White_

3.

Young Shizune was busy affixing a red and white seal on the back of the refrigerator in their hotel room.

It was becoming a regular habit, that is, the moment they entered a new hotel room after traveling from another town. After setting down her little pig named TonTon on the counter to munch on some leftover rations, she took out her Lady's super secret do not touch or you will die suitcase. Except this slim grey suitcase did not have nice clothes or stringy underwear or other necessary traveling stuffs inside. No. It had money.

Enough money to run away to Taki and never come back. Enough money to bribe the son of a daimyo or buy a large piece of marble and commission an artist for your true likeness. It was enough money to buy all the apple orchards. It was enough money to buy a big boat and a pony to go with it. It was enough money to spare. An elephant had not the appetite to eat all of it. Shizune grabbed the handle and fit it in to the freezer section carefully, closed the door, then activated the seal, slapping some of her chakra on the mark. Shizune then picked up TonTon and set her on the floor. Feverishly, Shizune got a cleaning cloth and sanitizer and cleaned up after the pig. She didn't want the hotel maid to even_ suspect_ a swine in this suite, because she knew they probably weren't allowed. Not that TonTon was dirty. But after traveling all day, they were all a bit green. "Oh TonTon," Shizune smiled, collapsing on the sofa after her hard work. "Come here."

Shizune had to help her reach the cushion. Just as Shizune began petting the little pink animal quite peacefully, Tsunade walked in like a tornado and shut the door quickly, locking it. "We can't stay here," she closed the blinds of the kitchen window.

"…Whaaaat?" wailed Shizune, craning her neck. "Why not?"

Tsunade's eyes rolled to the corner. "Um…I saw I guy I owe money to. A lotta money."

"Oh my…" Shizune moaned, her neck falling on the back of the sofa.

Tsunade entered the room slowly, almost vicariously on tiptoe, watching her back and watching the wall as if it were going to bust open at any moment. "But we were traveling_ all_ _afternoon_," Shizune said. "Can't we spend the night?"

"…I suppose. We registered incognito," said Tsunade naively.

"What about…crossing the border, back to Konoha…?"

"What?" Tsunade exclaimed, "You are out here for medical training purposes, missy!"

"And how to learn blackjack and poker apparently…" Shizune mumbled under her breath.

"Be quiet!" Tsunade snapped, her gaze shaking across the room. "And you," she said to the pig, "What are _you_ looking at."

TonTon recoiled behind a pillow.

"Lady Tsunade…" Shizune said calmly, sighing. "It'll be all right in the morning."

Tsunade let out an exasperated sigh, dropping the hands on her hips. "Maybe," she said. The lioness in her mewed. "I'll go to bed," Tsunade decided.

"What about my training…?" After the death look, Shizune dropped the idea immediately. "I'll just…stay up for a while, then," said the young woman faithfully.

Tsunade nodded.

Shizune smiled a little, feeling needed by her Lady. Once Tsunade disappeared into the bedroom, the young black-haired help put her face down to level with TonTon and smiled. "I believe _I_ got to the couch first."

TonTon protested. "Oink, oink!"

.

Tsunade reached under her pillow, banged her head on it, and sighed. "What a week," she moaned. Then all of a sudden she got up, turned, and peeked out the window through the blinds. Nothing could be seen. No familiar probing shadows. No men. No whispers. No animals. No men _pretending_ to be animals. She sighed again. "_Men_," she said scornfully. "Who needs 'em…" After that, she felt something wet running down her cheeks. "Oh Dan…Oh little brother…" she mourned. "Oh men with foolish dreams…"

Tsunade cried herself to sleep.

.

Obito lied on his bed, chewing on a thick blade of grass he'd pulled from the lawn before he came in. He was thinking about many things at once, as usual. Turning over and over he was restless with thought. "The mission," he continued whispering aloud. "I really hope I don't screw it up."

The butterflies in his stomach performed a perfect loop.

"Why me?" he asked. "Why couldn't I have been the gifted one of the bunch. Why do I always have to work twice as hard?" He leaned over and stared at the trend posters on his wall. Then he looked at the photo on his desk; his sensei, Kakashi, Rin, and he stood in a somewhat happy quartet. Somewhat happy was all three being happy and gay except for one person in the group. The one guy Obito was never thrilled about seeing, let alone working with. Obito got up and turned, and looked out the window. Crickets chirruped. He would be getting up very early tomorrow. Shadows moved. He would meet his teammates on the way out of the village. The moon shone inside the blue. Then they would go forth to Kannabi. Didn't everybody want to go to Kannabi? Obito smiled faintly. Kannabi was definitely the place to be.

.


	8. White 4

_White_

4.

"…Sakumo would have never let them get away."

He was talking to himself again.

Usually, he caught himself before words tumbled out of his mouth randomly like this. He NEVER wanted to be that man who mumbled to himself, even if it was a silly reminder pick up some bread or milk. "Nobody needs to know we need cheese…oh…!" He cursed. He turned his head away from the door. And cursed aloud again. Why should he? He had everything in the world right now. Damn straight.

He stood and headed out the door to walk down the halls. He even smiled a little, faintly. Yes. Everything was going well, considering. All those things out there in the light were turning as supposed to, and all those things moving in the dark were moving, as they should. Yes indeed. And here he was, coursing leisurely between both. No one knowing just how much he was involved in either. "Fine night," he said aloud. To a prison guard.

The man nodded. "Oh, sir, I heard about Itachi…Congratulations!"

"Thank you," Fugaku smiled.

"Top of his class. You must be so proud."

"Very much so. Carry on."

"Yes sir!" saluted the genin.

Fugaku walked outside. And made a round. It took him near the Hokage Tower. It took him near the marketplace. It took him to the bridge across the little river. The thought of his genius kid took his mind off Orochimaru and Jiraiya. Itachi. Oh Itachi would be of great help to his plans. Itachi was the perfect, powerful vessel. How blessed could Fugaku be?

"Oh, good evening Fugaku-san."

"…Yondaime-sama!" All of a sudden Fugaku's back straightened when he recognized the voice.

Minato smiled, "Off duty?"

"Yes—Well, no. Never off duty."

"I was just coming on duty…so to speak. I have someplace very important to go tonight."

Minato's friendly nature invited conversation. It was infectious. "The border, sir?" Minato nodded, "Some preparations must be made. But first thing's first."

Fugaku looked at him as if he did not know as to what Minato was referring.

Minato smiled, "My wife," he said, showing some flowers from behind his back.

Fugaku smiled, a little.

"Good-bye then."

"Safe journey sir…to both locations."

"Thank you."

Flash.

Fugaku stood there. "Flowers aren't a bad idea right about now…Oh shit I've done it again." Before he ended the round, heading for the Yamanaka Flower shop, he noticed Homura and Sandaime, walking, in the night. Sarutobi often walked alone. Having a companion made Fugaku curious, but he bought the flowers and went home.

.

Kushina stared. "Oh, sweetheart…how nice…" She took them and then beat his collar, "You _said_ you were going to pick me up at six!"

"I know, I know, I'm so sorry I was—"

"You flashing mob of one!" Kushina exclaimed, swatting at his head with them as he tried to duck. "Explain yourself!"

"I was in the meeting…"

"In the meeting!" she repeated. "A hokage, in a meeting! How ridiculous!"

"Extraordinarily…" Minato agreed with a weary undertone.

"Exactly!" Kushina grumbled and put—popped the surviving flowers inside a vase without any water for their poor aching feet.

"I really am sorry Kushina, I tried, but the mission…"

"The mission, yes, the mission to Kannabi."

"Kushina…"

"No, it's all right… it's all right…"

Minato cocked his head. "I'm really sorry."

Kushina fought down a grin. His eyes were a bassets, and his lip was curling, genuinely sorry. "Oh Minato," she threw her arms around him. "Please be careful. _Please?"_

"I will."

She released him and let him go to the bedroom to pick up stuff that he needed in his pack.

Kushina went to the kitchen to fill the vase with water before she followed him and sat upon the bed, watching him intently from behind. He was tall and slim, yellow hair, and his cloak was on. The one that said _Yondaime Hokage_. She smiled. She liked the cloak. It was red and white. "Is this for me?" he asked.

She contained a grin. The only thing better than flowers were sweets to go with. "Thank you, Kushina…for these…They'll be great…for the road…They…are for me, right?"

She laughed.

They were silent for a while until Minato turned, "I've got some preparations to…make," he said.

"I know," she understood. "We'll do dinner some other time."

"When I get back."

"When you get back."

"Oh Minato," she stood and threw her arms around him, "Please be safe, please!"

"I can take care of myself."

"You have students to take care of too."

"Kakashi will be a jounin in a couple days."

"Yes well, he's what, thirteen? Hormonal and lonely. I always thought it was sad what he went through. Watch him."

Minato nodded. "I was hoping to work on him more…We'll be all right. I can't guarantee it, but I will make an effort."

"You do that," she smiled, and held him for a long time. "I'll miss you."

"I miss you already."

"Really?"

"Really," he smiled.

"Ohh!"

"Kushina, I do have to go soon."

"How soon."

"KUSHINA!"

…

.


	9. Black 5

_Black_

5.

Sakumo opened his eyes, slowly. At first, he couldn't really see much. Most of his body was numb, and to make matters worse as he became aware of how his body was positioned, quite a bit of his wife's weight was down his right arm, making it more white, detached, and otherwise unbearable. The sound was coming from her. Her sobs seemed to vibrate the bed in the hospital room. Sakumo struggled a while, but finally noticed the others who were in this room. There was a figure who looked a lot like Dan, perhaps it was, dressed in medical white, with a gloomy expression across his face. Then there were two women standing near him. The first was a woman he recognized, vaguely, from another village. Suna. The second was from his own. Tsunade. Sakumo groaned, and turned his ears and sight away, wishing he could have simply died.

Tsunade swallowed hard, while Chiyo smirked. "Not even a _thank you_," she said. "From that horrified, disappointed expression. Well we're mortified too!" she said at Sakumo. "Of all people!" she exclaimed. "Konoha _no_ Shiroi Kiba! And not even a thank you!" she grinned, clearly stifling a laugh and giggle raising a hand to her mouth to cover both.

Sakumo's wife raised her head slowly, bringing a hand to her own salty lips, gathering herself a little after his wake and the Suna woman's comment. Suddenly, Sakumo's wife dropped herself onto the floor from the chair right in front of Chiyo, bowing deeply and humbly; "Thank you," she cried out from beneath a cascade of fresh tears, "Thank you, thank you, thank _you_," said she, sobbing.

Chiyo's face suddenly turned still. She looked at Konoha's White Fang one last time, and Chiyo nodded once, shortly, to something on the wall. Tsunade and Dan watched her turn and leave quietly.

Sakumo's wife stood, her hand clutching her elbow with her knuckles to her mouth. Turning back to her husband, she collapsed again over him, shaking her head and crying quietly. It appeared she would not leave his side.

Tsunade's stomach churned. She turned away, going in the direction Chiyo had. Dan followed his wife. "Thank you," said Tsunade, catching Chiyo in the hallway. "I'm so glad I caught you before you left."

"Hm, lucky thing you did," said Chiyo, trying not to boast. "He was very near death."

Tsunade shook her head upon the matter. _Why oh why didn't she _talk_ to Sakumo?_ She asked herself. _Could she have been the last person he saw…? _Sensing her distress, Dan rested a hand on her shoulder, for comfort.

"But…tell me…" Chiyo walked up to her rival. "Why?"

Tsunade could not say. She shrugged, without a reason.

"No? Nothing? _Nothing_ was _evident?"_ Chiyo questioned, further intrigued.

"I don't know," Tsunade burst out. "I really, honestly, don't know."

Chiyo clearly did not want to accept this as an answer, but reluctantly she let the matter drop anyway. "Well," she smirked. "Well well." As she turned, Tsunade spoke once more, "As much as it pains me," she said, "I'm sure once Sakumo-san knows what happened, on his behalf, I thank you as well."

Chiyo's smirk loosened, as if her smile really did know how to turn upside down at the corners. "You're welcome." Was all she said before she left Konohagakure finally.

Tsunade moaned.

"Are you all right?" asked Dan.

"Of course I'm not all right," Tsunade snapped, leaning against the wall. "How could this have happened?"

Dan pursed his lips blankly. He imitated his wife's first response and he shrugged. "Who knows…"

"Sakumo does," Tsunade answered. "Sakumo…in his own screwed up way. Knew. He knew exactly what he was doing," she said. There were scars on his wrist and a hole near his heart. Tsunade turned her head, closing her eyes from the image. Dan came near her, and held her shoulder, "Get off," she said in annoyance. When she opened her eyes, she couldn't overlook her husband's both hurt and surprised expression. "Sorry," she said, turning her back on him. "I've been moody," she offered.

"I get it," said Dan calmly. "Say…our anniversary is coming up. How about dinner tonight. Or maybe we could go see a movie or something. Get out on the town…or on a country road."

Their anniversary wasn't for another two months. "…Sure…" said Tsunade unenthusiastically.

The tone of her voice worried him, but Dan allowed her space. The lioness she was sometimes required it. "I'll see you tonight then."

"Fine," she mumbled.

Dan frowned.

.


	10. Black 6

_Black_

6. 

There was an old joke at the Academy, the chuunin training quarters: About the only thing that could outrun a ninja was news. And word of it had reached Jiraiya and Orochimaru already. Deep, in the dark place, chilled to the bone, Jiraiya paced up and down the little room. "Would you stand _still!_" Orochimaru eventually erupted over his delicate instruments.

"I can't!" said Jiraiya. "Sakumo-san was a mentor to me! He covered for me so many times…He had my back more times than I can count on my fingers and toes good God, _how_ could he want to do away _with it all?"_

"Indeed. It makes what _you_ did not so surprising."

"SHUT UP YOU BASTARD!" Jiraiya belted, turning away from him. "I told you the other day you don't understand these things, your selfishness, your conceit, why, killing yourself would be the very_ last_ thing _you'd_ ever _contemplate!"_

"True," Orochimaru smiled, mixing potions as if he were mixing cocktails upon his work table still cluttered with written formulas and hand signs.

Jiraiya's breathing suddenly became audible. "…I've got to see him. I've _got_ to _see_ him," Jiraiya said again, doing away with the tremolo from his voice. "I've _got_ to be there."

Orochimaru contained a small smile, working delicately.

Jiraiya wiped clammy hands on his pants. "I've just got to," he decided.

Orochimaru said nothing.

"Do you want to pass on a message?"

"Oh?" Orochimaru looked up in surprise someone had asked him a question. "Oh, hmm…" The raven-haired man contemplated. "Sure. Now that you're gone, I could use another pair of hands."

"FAH!" Jiraiya seethed. "I'll come back for you. I'll come with Sakumo and we'll fight you. And we'll win."

"Of course," said Orochimaru pleasantly.

Jiraiya cursed, and walked out. Out. Out in the open. Out. In the direction of Konohagakure. Out there.

.

Traveling quickly, he made good ground.

He picked up a cloak from a border town with the last of his stolen money, and changed only his hair color with transfiguration from near white to a dark gray. He didn't care about his stripes, curiously recognizable from a distance as once belonging to Jiraiya, the great master, sensei, and sage before convicted killer—er, almost…_Almost_…

Sakumo had stopped him.

It would never vanish from his mind: Jiraiya still remembered Tsunade's scream as she came onto the scene too. Once he heard it in his mind, he cried, aloud, and cursed at himself vehemently. "Tsunade…oh, Tsunade…" But her scream overtook his conscious and once he heard it again, couldn't get it back out. It reverberated in his ear at night.

Sakumo didn't have to restrain Jiraiya at that moment for Jiraiya stood there, looking at what he'd done—_tried_ to do in shame. How could he have loved her that much to let that kind of madness inside him build? How? Tsunade got down on her knees, and healed him; Tsunade began healing her husband on the spot, "Dan, DAN!" she cried.

Jiraiya's form pulsed; he began looking around blankly with her screams still echoing inside his ears. Then he noticed Sakumo, some blood across his chest after he ripped the blade away from the sage's grasp. The blade was bleeding down, watering a spot on the ground from Sakumo's right hand.

Jiraiya's body continued to pulsate; his breathing unsteady. "Jiraiya…" he heard Sakumo say quietly, "Will you come with me?"

The sage had a vague intuition of why and where Sakumo would take him. "Dan…" They heard Tsunade murmur. "Oh Dan…Help!" she cried. "HELP!" Looking backing, seeing the men, Tsunade ran around the corner and called out for more assistance.

Within tense moments, she came back to Dan's side, held his hand, and hurried off with a couple genin to take him to the hospital immediately. Another shinobi suddenly came to Sakumo's side where Sakumo held off a hand on the police man, Uchiha Fugaku. "I…I…will ask you…" Sakumo began, his voice uneven, "…One more time, Jiraiya…Will you come with me?"

He opened his mouth, his fingers still feeling where he'd held Dan by the neck, feeling the hilt of the kunai blade he pulled, feeling the rage and the pain of being torn away by Sakumo Hatake, happening to be walking home that night too. The blood was already drying on their arms. "I…" Jiraiya said shakily, in a whisper, "I…can't…"

Sakumo, pain overtaking his eyes for a moment hesitated in the instant Jiraiya turned. To run.

But Jiraiya was caught. Sakumo was too good. Jiraiya did not get very far.

Jiraiya was sentenced in a court by Uchiha. Fugaku, the genin who were there, Dan, and even Sakumo testified. Tsunade was the only one silent. "Oh Tsunade," Jiraiya murmured to himself, wondering how he could have done such a shameful, shameful act. His head lowered. So did Sarutobi's, his own sensei. So did young Minato's. His faithful, prized student. So did everyone's in the village, the shame, the scourge of the _village…!_ _Jiraiya…! Once a sannin…! Jiraiya…!_

Jiraiya paced in the prison cell in the jailhouse. Even the other prisoners gaped and looked at him in open astonishment with coarse whispers, giving them something, _everything_ to talk about. "All right, all right, shut up," the prison guards were sick of them soon and kicked at them between the bars. The sage knew he had to leave, and by that he meant Escape. Because they never really built prisons for people like him, and despite all their best efforts…Jiraiya was too good.

So here he was. Going back. To the place that readily disowned him.

He moved in near the outskirts just as the sun was setting. He decided to shorten his hair further with transfiguration to make him look younger. A pirate hailing from the land of waves could have mistaken he was their protégé, lost among land for wine or women. Jiraiya proceeded to go into the hospital, hoping to God neither Tsunade nor Dan were working a shift this late. "Hatake Sakumo?" he asked the nurse behind the counter. "Who are you?" she looked up, taken aback.

"I am…a friend. I was already en route from Kusa when I heard. May I please see him? Please?"

The woman looked at him with a mixture of surprise and suspicion. "Well…Perhaps his wife would recognize you?"

"Oh, no…" he said sorrily. "We had met at a bar, and, well, stayed in touch, that's all. Please? He means a great deal to me…almost like a mentor," Jiraiya said truthfully.

Against her better judgment, the nurse nodded. "I think the family is with him now. I'd tread lightly," she warned. "If they are, perhaps you will come back tomorrow," she cleared her throat, "In the daylight," she said firmly.

"Oh of course," Jiraiya apologized. "I know. I must seem very suspicious…" he used the word vicariously. "I promise. I will be mindful."

"They moved him to the end of the hall there, number fourteen," the nurse said, eyeing him and his various red tattoos.

"Thank you."

"You're not welcome," she said very rudely.

Jiraiya turned, and headed down there, approaching carefully. He turned stiffly—nervously—when he saw someone come out. It was Sakumo's son, Kakashi. My, he was growing! Thirteen? Fourteen? Jiraiya pretended to go the other way, knowing the young boy noticed him. Jiraiya glanced at him for a moment. Kakashi locked eyes with him, and then turned swiftly down the hall. It was clear to Jiraiya he was confused and upset. Jiraiya was too.

After a moment, he proceeded toward the door on the right hand side. Peering in, her back was to him. Sakumo's wife never appeared so white and frail. Jiraiya winced. It had been too much for her. Jiraiya looked in again, and looked at Sakumo. His eyes were open, but as to whether he was aware of anything Jiraiya could not tell. The jounin was simply staring at the ceiling with a blank, injured look in his eyes. The kind of look Jiraiya saw in a person's face after having tried to commit an act of great consequence. He recognized it easily, because Jiraiya wore that look all the time. "Oh Sakumo…" he let out a whisper. Unintentionally, he frightened the woman. She jumped, clearing her red face, expecting to see a doctor there. Instead she looked at Jiraiya curiously. She looked him in the eyes, squinting, and then she said, to his surprise, "…Jiraiya…?"

After a wild thump of his heart like a rhinoceros landing a jump from a very tall precipice, Jiraiya put a finger to his mouth entering inside the room, "Please, I beg you, do not say a word, I only came…for…"

The two looked down, "…for…Sakumo."

"Sakumo," she said swallowing, "Sakumo, Jii is here to see you," she whispered. "Remember?"

"Sakumo, it's really me," Jiraiya laughed with a tear coming to one eye, entering in further. "I…" He was about to say he came all the way from the west end of the country, but that would admit that he had been there, hiding. "Well. It's not important," he set anchor there. "Sakumo…I'm here. Don't you remember, what you said, we'd be old war horses together? Remember…? We'd be grouchy in our old age and trip freshmen genin over the bridge downtown…oh no, you're right, yes _I_ said that. You would never dream of doing something, so…so…crude…" Jiraiya's voice fell silent, watching Sakumo close his eyes. "Can he speak…?" Almost as soon as Jiraiya spoke, Sakumo glanced at him.

"Jiraiya…you can't come back."

"Too late now good old friend," Jiraiya smiled.

"You must leave."

"But I just got here."

"Fool."

"Funny, that's what Orochimaru calls me all the time, but I don't see him down here. I came back," Jiraiya said staunchly.

Sakumo had no strength to argue.

"He's right," she spoke up beside him. "You can't stay. But…perhaps…perhaps you could go back to the house…?"

Sakumo spoke her name so quietly Jiraiya barely heard. "He can't," said Sakumo.

"But…"

"Jii…you must…leave."

Jiraiya stood. "Well. I'll just have to come back tomorrow then," he decided with a faint smile and turned—

Sakumo's wife gasped at the shadow suddenly overtaking the light of the doorframe.

"…Ah my," said Jiraiya.

"…What…?" Sakumo whispered to his wife.

"…People." she said.

.


	11. Black 7

_Black_

7.

"Fugaku-san," said a slightly younger man than he, "I was wondering if you might…"

"I'm busy," Fugaku grumbled.

After a moment's hesitation, the Uchiha decided it wasn't worth it, and ushered the boy with him—"Wait, wait…" said Fugaku, the pencil in hand dropping askance. "A minute," he extended.

"I'm so sorry it had to coincide with the re-capture of…of…Well," the man got to it, "I was wondering if Obito might sign on as a junior apprentice here."

"He may do so at once," said Fugaku. "I am re-assigning nearly all of my best guards for Jiraiya," Quickly, Fugaku scribbled something on a small square and offered it to the man. "You may take this to any of my men. They will tell you," Fugaku looked at the boy's face for the first time, "what to do."

"Oh thank you sir, thank you!"

"Thank you very much," said Obito, looking a little wary of the serious looking man.

"I'm late for an appointment, too," he sighed. "I don't know whether to go or not. I just keep thinking the minute I leave, he'll make an escape. He's a tricky bastard. One of the _sannin_…"

"Sir," said Obito as Fugaku rose. "What do you do, to have to be called 'sannin'." Obito's father looked a little mortified his child would further detain a prison guard from his busy appointments.

But Fugaku recalled, "You would have had to have fought a very powerful ninja. Hanzou, the Salamander. It was Jiraiya, Orochimaru…and Danzou-sama."

"…Oh."

After Fugaku left the room, Obito's father tugged his son's black and orange jacket, "Come on now, are you excited?"

Obito shrugged.

Obito's father rolled his eyes. "You are something else, Obito."

.

Tsunade had woken up with the news.

Dan too.

A special message had arrived at the crack of dawn from a bird, and a shinobi was outside their home, guarding it. Hyuuga Hizashi was standing there, formidable as ever, his arms across his chest; his Byakugan seeing everything. Another Hyuuga may have held this post during the night and relived him only hours ago. How many guards had been there since midnight…Tsunade turned away from the window, her finger lifting off the blinds. They creaked loudly in the silence. She felt Dan enter the living room on his bare feet, and stand there.

"What will they do, you think?" Tsunade said finally after he looked in the hallway mirror and fastened his vest together.

"I don't know," said Dan truthfully.

Tsunade had not bothered to put on her headband like he, or her shinobi attire. Instead she sat there on the edge of the couch, her fists under her thighs and one foot on the coffee table. It was an odd position to be in. Dan began to smile. "We'll be fine."

"Yes. I'm sure we will," she echoed.

Dan walked over to her and kissed her on her forehead. "I'm going to work."

Tsunade looked at him once, then lowered her gaze onto the floor. "Okay."

Once he left, she slowly found her headband back in their room. She didn't wear it all the time. Everybody knew who she was. She pulled out off-duty clothes, some nice ones like she'd worn last night, from her big closet and changed. She knew of two things she was going to do today: First she was going to see Sakumo, and then, she was going to see Jiraiya.

.

"But why isn't she coming in today?" a young man whined.

The nurse opened her mouth, and then closed it. "Well," she admitted, "She might come in, and she might not. Now can't you run along?"

"But I don't wanna run along…"

The nurse did not know what to do. "But surely, there must be something that you do. No classes today?"

"I aced all my classes." The little boy said, adjusting his glasses.

"Oh…?"

"I'm a chuunin!"

She nearly fell over.

"That's right! The second one since Hatake Kakashi! He's my hero." Said the young boy who kind of looked like him except for the nerd-ish, gentle expression.

"A…A…chuunin…" she repeated slowly, for her own benefit.

"That's right!" he cheered.

"So what in the world do you want Lady Tsunade for?"

"She promised to help me. With medical ninjutsu," said Kabuto. "I was hoping she could give me a lesson today."

"…Ah…" The nurse said.

"Maybe you can give me a lesson ma'am?"

The nurse stared at him for a moment. "…This is ridiculous," she said finally, and walked away. "Abso…frak…lu…I need a vacation, that I really do."

Kabuto looked perplexed. Eventually, he shrugged, went outside, and looked for something to do.

.

Fugaku walked inside, "Mikoto?"

"Oh, yes, in here…What are you doing here? I thought you'd be at the prison all day…"

"I know. I will be once this is over."

"Oh…" Mikoto smiled. "Darling…"

"Yes, well," he sat down beside her, "How was he this morning."

"Better after I got him to take his medication."

Their son, Itachi, was still asleep.

"Well. That's good."

Mikoto rested her head on her husband's shoulder affectionately. "Thank you for being here. I wasn't sure you even remembered."

"Well, you have those notes all over the walls and cabinets, not to mention the stove and the refrigerator of his appointments and meds and things…" She smiled. "I knew the test was today, and to be honest, I really didn't want to come. I feel like Jiraiya will find a way to escape in my absence," he lowered his voice.

"How could he?"

"That's what we asked ourselves the last time," said Fugaku.

Mikoto straightened when the doctor returned, a somber expression on his face. Mikoto suddenly braced herself, holding onto her husband: "It's back," said the doctor. "…I'm so sorry."

"…What can we do?" Mikoto trembled.

"There are…a couple options…"

The couple looked at each other in shock.

.

Outside Konohagakure a good distance now, Chiyo breathed a sigh of relief. "What a confined little place," she said. "Cold. Cramped. Not to mention crazy._ I_ wouldn't want to live there."

Beside her, the Suna shinobi nodded his head. "Very." He agreed in a solemn, deep tone of voice.

"Dark, too!" she looked up at all the trees. "No wonder people have terrible eyesight over there. The Byakugan had to evolve for them to _see_ anything," she laughed at her own clever little joke.

"The Sharingan is there too," offered the Suna shinobi. The other one kept silent.

"True," said Chiyo. "But even the ancestors of the Uchiha hated Hashirama. They should have all packed up and come to Suna," she said opening her arms in welcome.

"…And the Rinnegan?" spoke up the one in back. He was mainly there for security.

Chiyo guffawed. "…What about it? No one's seen that in…ages…Whaa-ha-ha!" she laughed. "Probably got sick of all them company and moved someplace quiet!" She sighed, feeling a little warm suddenly. "I'd like to retire someplace quiet."

The man beside her gave her an odd look.

"And scare the shit out of 'em." she added with a mischievous grin.

.

Being shorthanded and overstretched, and even a little overworked, Obito stayed on in the prison till suppertime. He heard the guards talking near Jiraiya's security-laden and reinforced jail cell: "Hasn't run yet…Can you see him?" One whispered. "Yeah…Just sitting there…" said another. "Why doesn't he speak?"

"He came to see Sakumo."

"He came to see Sakumo-sam…san…?"

The one nodded.

"Jee whiz."

He really didn't know what was so shocking—well, ok, yes, it was really shocking Jiraiya risked his on-the-run status to see how Hatake Sakumo was doing. If Obito had wanted to know how Shiroi Kiba was doing, all he would have had to do was ask Kakashi…not that Kakashi would want to talk about it anyway. Surely there must have been an easier way to see the jounin or get a message to him…no…? Obito shook his head. Then all of a sudden a prison guard came up to him—it was the chunky, muscular man who was helping to guard Jiraiya's cell. "Hey kid," he grinned under some big brown eyebrows, "Wanna see him?"

The young man's expression soured. Obito objected to the tone of voice the man had used. It was as if Jiraiya was some caged animal, rare, and at the same time, unwilling to show his feathers and dance…if he had had any feathers anyway…Obito frowned when he turned the corner under duress from the man's chunky hand around his orange collar. "Isn't it pathetic?"

Jiraiya was hunched over, against the back wall, his head down, hands in his lap.

The teenager flinched, but the man pushed him forward again. "Take a good look kid."

Obito wasn't quite sure why he needed to stare at length. It felt both wrong and unnecessary. "He's not going to run, are ya'," said the other guard. "Ha ha…_sannin_…" he said, as an insult rather than honor. "…Huh? Hey, we're just tryin' to be _friendly_…"

Obito had never seen a man more bloated with his own arrogance. Was this what it was like, to grow up? Was he going to become either an object of derision or of abject authority? Again he flinched away. "Hey, where are you going?" said the man with the brown hair and eyebrows.

The young man returned to his post. He heard a few moments later the sounds of those guards being relived. It was a quiet, solemn voice at first, who then raised it only once and Obito finally recognized the familiarity of it, "I said, GO!" Fugaku boomed.

The 'Yes sirs' that ran out were like mice running away from the cheese or peanut butter they had seized. Obito smiled. Suddenly Fugaku wasn't all that bad. But being so close to the jail cell, Obito could hear Fugaku's quiet words to his new prisoner, "When you last were here," he said, "My son was two…or three," he said a little sheepishly upon not really remembering. "He was healthy and fit. Even promising. Now…Now Itachi…is dying."

Swallowing, Obito side-stepped, but he could hear no response.

"He's dying," Fugaku repeated with a heartbroken voice over the floor.

"My apologies. I suppose…" the sage spoke up, "They'll want to kill me too."

"Yondaime is gone. Nawaki-sama is not here either. Sarutobi-sama will decide your fate."

Jiraiya let out a botched laugh—"Chhh. Sarutobi can't kill me. I was his student. The goofy one."

"Well. Then. I don't know what he'll do," said Fugaku. "Goodnight…You will not escape this time," he added before leaving.

"Yeah. I think I won't be…" said Jiraiya, expelling the hot and forlorn air in his stomach.

Fugaku left. Everyone seemed to leave for it grew very quiet in the prison. Obito realized there were guards at every corner, but the prisoners made the most noise now; shifting, coughing, whispering incoherent notes to themselves that gave the young man the shivers. After a while, when he was about ready to ask somebody if he could go home yet, he thought he heard movement walking toward Jiraiya's cell. Curious, the young Uchiha peered around the corner and his mouth dropped open, he quickly covered it as to not make any noise, and then he wondered, was she LOST?

But Tsunade appeared calm, and in total, one-hundred percent control.

Jiraiya had not seen her yet.

She cleared her throat very quietly.

Jiraiya looked up.

Tsunade looked at him.

Jiraiya looked at her.

Tsunade said "Hello."

Jiraiya stared.

Obito stared too.

.


	12. Black 8

_Black_

8.

Tsunade came closer to the jail cell and knelt down near the seal-covered bars, the defenses, the reinforcements, all of it between him and her. Jiraiya whispered her name so quietly Obito wasn't sure he had believed it was really her, "Yes. It's me," she said to him.

"…Why?"

"…I wanted to see you."

"…Why?" he said again, in equal perplexity.

"To say I'm sorry."

Jiraiya and Obito both stared at her, unsure what was going on.

"…Why?" Jiraiya asked a final time.

She looked down to her right (_Whew_, Obito thought), "Because I was young when I met Dan. Nawaki became jounin, and you and he and Orochimaru were taking missions, and I was by myself, in the village, all alone," she explained quietly. "I fell in love, foolishly…And now…that feeling's gone."

"…You can't be serious." Jiraiya deadpanned.

"…But I am."

"No," Jiraiya shook his head, "You—" He looked at her as if suddenly she had sprouted a few heads. "You_ aren't_ serious."

"I'll get you out of here," she whispered, (_WHAT?_ thought Obito), "I will, and then you can—"

"I can what, Tsunade—?" She hushed him. "I can get lost again?" he cursed. "I'm doomed," he said. "I had the 'crack of doom' moment in my career already, what I did to you—"

"What you did to Dan—"

"No, don't you understand I'm still _haunted_ by your _screams!"_ he whispered feverishly.

Tsunade looked down again, painfully recalling the memory. Jiraiya came closer to the bars. The Uchiha's heart thudded in the corner way over there.

Lady Tsunade looked up. She reached through the bars and pulled the dark prison clothes toward her, and kissed him on the mouth. She released him after a moment. Both men stared at her for a moment until Jiraiya shook his head. "No. I won't. I won't let you release me, I won't let you have me—this is too _fucked up_."

"You have no idea," she murmured, and reached in and kissed him again.

Obito straightened, suddenly having seen enough. He stood there shakily, pretending he was deaf and dumb, and only here for the day. He caught himself from nearly putting his hands in his pockets. The quiet rustling might have alerted them. _What do I do?_ he thought wildly._ What if she comes my way when she's done…? When she's done…Not sure what those noises are…_ Obito frowned. _Oh God,_ he thought again for the umpteenth time in his life, _Why ME?_

.

Swirling. Flying. Soaring.

The landscapes melted and turned over, spinning like a coin, then laying flat and turning over and over again in his mind's eye (funny how it could see so much). It was a wonder he wasn't spit out on the ground after it was over. This was a long distance after all, he would easily feel some nausea this time, but Minato knew that already. He was prepared to do his duty—

CRASH!

He was off balance in this spinning traverse, "What the hell?" he said, or better yet, _thought_. The slightly amorphous form and flash of yellow light he was, was spinning out of control halfway through the journey when he felt his arm—out there, being handled with such a pressure he thought it would break off. "God—Dammit!" he said, unable to reverse the jutsu now.

All of this happened within a second. The next thing he knew, his body, his tangible precious body had been thrown onto the floor—someone else had been thrown out too. "What the hell…?" Minato had to catch his breath. He wasn't sure why. Hiraishin never once had taken him breathless. Winded sometimes, but never breathless. As Yondaime waited for the wind to enter back into his lungs, his right arm collapsed under him, pink from the manhandling it received—man—a _man!_ Minato looked somewhere on his left, yards away: It was a _masked_ man. Against a tree. In the same state as he apparently. Yondaime struggled to be the one to collect himself first, but the other man rose faster, and came at him, swerving between the trees, and attacked…

.

Obito ran. No, not home, how silly would that be.

Obito ran for his friend's house.

The Hatake clan lived outside the village, on the south side. It was a dangerous way to continue living considering the Shiroi Kiba was widely known, to put it mildly. "Oh please be there," Obito begged, hitting the country roads. He knew where it was, he was there before. Getting away from the village, his parents took a trip. They loved taking trips. He was very young, three or four, and Hatake Sakumo talked with his parents quite friendly when they unknowingly walked by his house. The man was nearly covered in dirt and sweaty from working in his fields. But Kakashi came up to them too, shyly for a minute; Sakumo invited him to come and meet Obito, the same age. And so their acquaintance had begun. "Please, please!"

Obito walked up the steps, and tentatively, knocked on the door.

He knocked again, and once more, "Kakashi, it's me, I have to talk to you, _please!"_

"Go away."

"Please Kakashi, please! I have to come in, I have to talk to you about something! Something I saw!" Obito clarified.

Finally, Kakashi opened the door a crack, "…What." he said flatly.

"Jiraiya! And Tsunade-sama!"

"What about them?"

"They were…kissing!"

Kakashi's two dark eyes bulged, "What…?"

"That's what I said!" Obito lowered his voice. "Are you alone?"

Kakashi nodded, pulled him inside, and quickly shut the door.

.


	13. Black 9

_Black_

9.

Chiyo paused.

The men who were with her stopped too.

"Did you hear something…? No, it was more like a feeling, really," she explained. "It felt like…danger. Nearby."

"I sensed nothing ma'am," said their security, now on the alert.

"Danger?" said her brother. "Nearby?"

"Yes," said Chiyo, shivering in the cold on the forest floor. "It was just a feeling."

After a moment, when nothing abnormal was heard in the forest but for a couple birds, he asked, "Do we continue to Suna, or not?"

"Well…" played Chiyo, "You know how I like to get into trouble."

"Trouble finds you, sister." She grinned at this comment as the other guard too voiced his concern. "We cannot trespass upon Konohagakure's authority."

"What if it's a missing-nin."

"What if it's a house on fire?" asked her brother.

"What if…oh fish sticks and beetle juice, come on." Chiyo led the way. "Just a quick peek around. We can always say we got lost or followed a yellow brick road from out nowhere."

The two men exchanged less than enlightened looks.

.

"They were…_what?"_ Kakashi said.

Obito took his shoes off after stepping onto the bare floor. Habit. "_Kissing_," he whispered.

Kakashi was speechless for a while. "Are you sure?"

"Would I lie to you? And don't you think I know what _kissing_ looks like!"

"Okay, okay…I just find it hard to believe…"

"What do we do?"

"Well I don't know…You sure you weren't seen?"

Obito recounted the moment Tsunade had entered the jail cell. "Nobody was around. Nobody saw me."

Kakashi bit his lip. Obito wiped his clammy hands on his pants without a thought. "Why me?" he said suddenly. "Why does it always have to be me?"

"What if we told Minato-sensei?"

Obito made a face. "Oookay…but…OH! I GOT IT!" He suddenly exclaimed. "We tell him _incognito!"_

"What?"

"Yeah! Because I do NOT want to get into trouble."

"I think we're already in trouble."

"Well, but, you can go as some made up person and I can too."

"It'll look awfully funny when two shinobi walk up to Yondaime's door, tell him about Tsunade and Jiraiya, and expect him not to think we don't really work at the prison. Then he'll think that it's a lie, and whoever it was was trying to frame Tsunade-sama or Jiraiya."

"…Oh. …Right."

"You best just tell him as Obito. And…I'll go with you."

Obito frowned. "I just wish I would have left earlier. And besides, why in the world would she do_ that_?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Who knows. Come on. Let's get it over with."

"Right NOW!"

Again, his friend shrugged.

"…Well…okay…Oh, wait, my shoes…"

.

Minato barely had enough time to dodge, and still the blade the man pulled drew blood. _He could have cut my arm off_, Minato thought, weaving in and out of the trees drunkenly to avoid the blade further. Clumsily, he swerved behind a tree trunk, and he heard the blade stick, and come out the other side with the point of an arrow. The Hokage performed a substitution and then whirled around to get a good look at him, pulling out a kunai. There wasn't much to see. Most of his body was covered with draping black fabric. His face was hidden by a colorful foliage painted mask with a couple holes for eyes.

Minato jumped down when his form disappeared and he pulled out another kunai. The fighter's speed was incredible. Not only was Minato struggling to keep up, he worried he might be bald or limbless after ten minutes. Finally Minato caught the underside of the blade with his own and said, "What a God awful lot of trouble to get some candy."

The two broke apart. The man did not immediately pursue Minato. "…Ah," said Yondaime, relieved of battle, "You know, I'm not really adverse to meeting new people, but in this case, I must say, who the HELL are you, and what did you use to get into my _jutsu?"_

The man did not immediately answer. Minato's head fell forward rather tiredly. "I have something very important to do," he said. "But I don't want to leave here without knowing why you've done this. _Who_ are _you_." Minato said again firmly.

"…You have candy?" the man asked suddenly, his voice stretched and raspy at first as if he hadn't spoken in a while.

Minato nearly cursed; rolling his eyes up to the ceiling, the man suddenly reminded him of Minato's first sensei. This man too had gone rogue. "If I let you have it, would you leave me alone and let me carry on?"

It appeared the man was in thought, for he said nothing.

Minato's head fell sideways. _Sweet Jesus,_ he thought.

"What kind of candy?"

"Dumplings."

"Really tasty ones I bet."

"You bet your cloak their good."

"God this is so tempting…"

"Who ARE you?" Minato demanded.

The other man chuckled.

.

Kushina rapped loudly on the door. "I KNOW you're IN there."

"…Go away." A stern, gruff voice said.

"You tell ME to 'go away'?" she exclaimed. "I should have HEARD by now whether he'd met up with the leaf ninja!" After that, she pumped her fists and kicked the door open.

Danzou jumped out of his seat in the moonlit darkness. Good thing nobody had been with him.

"Did he get there or not?" Kushina's rage made her face red. The color matched her hair, which seemed like each end was rising upward…

Danzou recoiled. "Nobody has heard…"

Kushina's face was suddenly expressionless. "…Are you…kidding?"

"I'm afraid not," he said honestly.

She stood there quietly now. Still. Perfectly still.

.

Swirling, and tumbling. It began flipping through images very quickly now, like turning the pages of a picture book very, very quickly. The sights were nearly indistinguishable. Sandaime turned before he was on his way out, and paused, looking at the ball on the cushion on the table. Over and over the images crashed, wildly. Madly. Sarutobi leaned over it, looking. "…What the…"

Sarutobi looked around his room in the tower. His study was dark and it was silent. Except for the globe, churning blurry images. "…Homura," said Saru so intrigued by this sight, "What do you think it's doing…?"

But Homura would not answer. He was only a picture on the desk these days.

.


	14. Black 10

_Black_

10.

Minato looked up. It was still nightfall. No time had passed since he had initiated Hiraishin. Who knows how far away exactly he was from his destination. Even he wasn't sure. "Come on," he muttered. "Make a decision."

"Can I have the dumplings anyway? I'm still going to harass you."

"Sweet Jesus…" Minato lunged. He was rarely this frustrated and angry to be the one to attack first, but as his sensei always used to say, "STUFF IT!" Minato attacked.

Minato maneuvered around him, pulling out several shuriken in order to slow him down. The hokage was fortunate enough to hold the cloak for a moment with two kunai and hit him across his face—er, mask and turned, placing a seal on the back of the man's ankle before the force threw him into a tree. Minato stood there and waited. He finally had an ace in the hole.

The man readjusted his mask. "I knew you were a mean son of a..."

Minato bit his lip, angry and annoyed. "Don't tell me you're an Iwa nin, sent here to prevent me from getting there in time."

"A whata-what? Oh no. I'm not one of those. I was born_ far_ away from the shinobi villages you speak of."

"You were_ born_," Minato muttered as if the subject had been moot. "What did you _use_ to get into my _jutsu?"_ said Minato angrily.

"Ah. That. Yes. Well. First off, you got into **MY** jutsu. So don't even talk to me if it's _my_ fault mister big important man," the masked man flaunted his upper middle like a bird.

"I got into YOUR jutsu? But that's _IMPOSSIBLE!"_ Minato exclaimed.

"Hey, I wasn't the one who placed the seal on my butt."

Minato stared. "I placed it…where…?"

"On my butt. I was about to turn, but I wasn't quick enough. I was coming out of a great sleep you know, and I couldn't activate it because you put some sort of protection on it where no one could activate it but _you_. Very smart," the man allowed, "Very intelligent."

Minato's mouth was open. "…You're joking."

"I am not. I often transform myself into rocks. It's how I _like_ to _sleep_."

Minato squinted, shaking his head, trying not to picture what the man accused him of doing. "No…no…that can't…_No_," said Minato. "That's not right."

The man inclined his head as if to say, "Oh yes, it was."

"No. I. Placed that seal. Over a week ago," recalled Minato factually, "On a ROCK, almost exactly fifteen miles from…an undisclosed location which will remain undisclosed to you."

"That was me. I had been traveling all day. I was very tired."

Minato felt like pulling his hair.

"As I was saying. As soon as I saw you again, I wanted to clobber you for what you had done. Surely you would have too, had the situations been reversed. I am a reasonable man."

"…Okay…okay…Let's SAY, I did what you say I did. I'm…sorry. Okay? Where are we now, exactly, I have an appointment to keep."

"What a busy man. Of course I could infer that from your cloak. You come from the land of fire. You look like you are Konohagakure's leader."

"Why yes. I am," Minato affirmed. _You can read,_ he thought.

"Well actually," said the man. "I'm not sure where we are either."

"…How d'you mean…?"

"You see, when you activated your mark, on my…"

"On your …"

"Yes, well, I was en route to my home from north ofTanzaku, toward the west via a seal summoning jutsu a lot like yours. These woods, while they are typical of Konoha, are not familiar to me."

Minato opened his mouth and then studied the man curiously. "Which village do you hail from?"

"Haven't you been listening? I hail from no village. I was simply on my way home when you happened to activate your seal at the same time I did mine."

"But you…" Minato shook his head. "You were trained in ninjutsu—It took me _years_ to develop Hiraishin. Even with Academy training, I didn't know what I was doing was even possible."

"Ah. So we are both lunatics."

"…It would appear so," said Minato flatly.

"No. I never went to the 'Academy'. I never trained under legitimate trainers. I was self-taught. You could say…it just comes…natural."

"What is your jutsu called?"

The man hesitated. "Mine is the Flying Dragon technique."

Minato nearly fell over sideways. "What is yours?" the man's voice was young and eager, but Minato said very low, "Flying Thundergod technique."

"Ooo!" The man skipped on his feet. "How uncanny! I knew you were a strange one."

"Could we _please_ focus on getting to a village or road mark or something so I can get on with my mission?"

"I suppose," said the man, "Unless we're not anywhere."

"…What do you mean?"

"Well. Haven't you ever considered what would happen if _your_ jutsu and _my_ jutsu…collided?"

"…No."

"I did. After you so cruelly placed your mark on my ass. I began to worry if you activated it while I used _my_ jutsu, what the outcome would be. Upon seeing nothing good would come of it, I vowed to myself then I would make it home on foot (the traditional way) until I received word just a few minutes ago (figuratively speaking) that my daughter is ill. I decided I _had_ to rush home. I thus activated _my_ seal the moment you did _yours_, and WHAMO!" He clapped his hands together and squashed his palms, "You and me were entangled and I was going to get your ass…for getting mine…so to speak…"

"…Oh. Forgive me."

"Yes well. Let's see if we are truly in the here-or-there…BYE!"

"WAIT! WHAT—" As soon as the man vanished, he was back, and thrown viciously against the tree. "Oh shit," he said. "Oh shit shit shit. Not good, not good, _not_ good."

Minato rushed over to him; the man looked like his neck was broken…but it was not. The man cradled it and cracked it a few times, repeating, "Oh my God. Not good. Not good. No not good."

"What? What happened? One second you were here, the next…!"

"No, it was _within_ a second," the man corrected. "I tried to activate my seal. But it did not work. Not good."

"What does that mean?" Minato asked immediately.

"It means we are not in the here-nor-there." He said cryptically, moaning.

"…And that means?"

"We are…" The man paused. "We are…outside."

"WELL YES TRIPPY NINJA WE **ARE** OUTSIDE IN THE WOODS. GOOD FOR YOU."

"No…no…_Not_ good for us. We are _out-side_," the man emphasized.

"Outside of what!" Minato exclaimed.

"Everything."

Minato silenced.

The man pointed a finger, as in instruction. "The world you know isn't the only world there is. We are _out_side. In one of the other alternate realities."

Minato stared at him blankly.

"As to which one…" the man shrugged, sitting more upright, "That remains to be seen."

Minato opened his mouth, and then he closed it.

"…No? No comprendé?"

"…No. Not really."

"Then we shall go forth to your Konohagakure, and see who is there. _My_ home does not exist. I must be some kind of mass murderer or something…I've got the talent for it…"

Minato hesitated, but helped him up. "I'm not sure I believe any of this." said Minato.

"I'm sorry about your mission. We may have entered a reality where the Iwa nin have not tried to invade or kill you. We may have entered a walk where my wife is still alive or orange-colored jumpsuits are in style."

"Orange-colored jumpsuits are never in style."

"So you say."

Minato glared at the back of his dark-haired head. "Well if this reality is so screwed up as you say, you might as well take off your mask."

"…But…I need it on. I _never_ take it off except for my daughter," the man seemed astonished Minato asked such a question.

"Did you take it off for your wife?"

"…Of course."

"Then pretend I'm your wife."

"…How shocking." The man said, his voice rightly shocked.

"Yeah, well, I have a feeling we haven't been shocked yet. Especially not when you meet _my_ wife."

"A shuriken is she?"

"Mm…" Minato murmured neither affirming or denying.

.


	15. White 5

_White_

5.

"Obito…"

"Yes, I know, 'I'm _late_'…" he said, coming to a halt after sprinting the distance between the flower bed and the village gates. He caught his breath, "Good morning Rin!" he smiled shyly.

"Good morning Obito," she smiled.

"Come on then and quit wasting time," Kakashi chided, "Let's go."

Sarutobi watched them leave, and then all of a sudden, the image in the ball turned upside down and disappeared. He watched it curiously. It never did this before. It began swirling again. Fixating upon nothing but chaos. Pictures flew by. People spun around. Foam churned. "Homura…I'll ask Homura what he thinks," Sarutobi decided, and went to find his old friend.

.

She always had this feeling of being watched. Growing up in a clan such as this, who wouldn't? She laughed. What a silly idea. Ha ha.

"…Mom, what are you doing out here so early?"

Mikoto jumped. "How dare you scare me like that!" she shrieked at her son, who was simply standing there on the porch in his bare feet.

"…Sorry," he smiled.

"I'm picking some of these vegetables. We're going to have a big dinner tonight in your honor."

"…Oh. Can I help?"

"When is school young man?"

"But today is the weekend."

"…Oh…Here I thought it was…Ohhhh," she made a growling noise and furiously attacked the cucumber plant. Itachi jumped off the ledge and helped her, controlling his grin in lieu of her diligent efforts. "Did you invite a few relatives?" he asked, intuitively guessing a few names to himself.

"Yup, your gramma and grampa. Your uncle is coming too. I can't _not_ invite him," she lowered her voice. "And let's see, me, you, your father, and…that's about it."

"Oh," said Itachi, not surprised.

"Why, who else would you like to come tonight?"

"Oh nobody," he shrugged. "You don't have to go to all this trouble."

"Silly!" she smiled, and ruffled his hair, "Oops…oh dear, I got dirt on your forehead, I'm sorry."

Itachi laughed. "Run these inside," she said to him, "And wash them off really good, please? Wash your face too. I'll come in in a moment."

"Okay."

Mikoto went over to the rhubarb patch and pinched a stalk. "It's not hollow," she said, surprised. When she started pinching and picking a few more, she noticed a shadow from the corner of her eye walking down the lane. "…Oh!" said Mikoto, surprised.

"Good morning," said Utatane Koharu.

"Yes, good morning. A very early morning," Mikoto smiled.

"I didn't know you grew rhubarb," the older woman said in a curious tone.

"Well," the Uchiha woman leaned back, "It was spur of the moment. We got a few bulbs as a gift, and I really wasn't sure if I wanted to keep them. I have no idea what to make with them."

"Might I recommend rhubarb salad…" said Koharu, eyeing the stalks. "I could send the recipe."

"Oh that's so kind…!" said Mikoto. "Thank you so very much."

"If you have extra…"

"Of course I'll share, I didn't know you were fond of it Koharu-sama." Mikoto smiled.

"Well…" she said uneasily, "Let's just say I used to come by it a lot, in the past…"

Mikoto cocked her head but Koharu bid her farewell and promised the recipe. "…How strange…" said Mikoto, returning to her work, determined to thin out the crowd of stalks. "How strange."

.

"I didn't know you were taking off."

"Hm?"

"Yes I was talking to you," he chuckled. "Are you going out for the enemy?"

"Reconnaissance."

"Ah," Sarutobi nodded. "Is it very important? I wanted to mention something to you before you leave."

"Anything—is it about the list of genin?"

"Oh no, nothing like that. It was when Kakashi came to visit me last night…"

"Change your mind about his…promotion?"

"No, I believe he's ready. It was about the crystal ball."

"…The one on your desk?"

"No, the one I keep out in the garden among the fairies and goblins. Of course I mean the crystal ball."

"…What about it?"

"It was…It was very strange. Kakashi must have noticed it too."

"…How strange?"

"…Strange. It was…It seemed…unusually _unsettled_, is the word I am looking for."

"Do you think it's an omen or something?"

"I thought it was worth paying attention to seeing how it never acted that way before."

"Don't you think a relic like that_ deserves_ it's secrets?" said Homura.

"…Yes," Sarutobi allowed. "But I've never seen it _do_ that."

Homura shrugged. "What can we do?"

"Exactly."

.


	16. White 6

_White_

6.

Jiraiya was fumbling in the dark for a kunai. "Only a couple months and already I'm walking into deep shit. Typical."

He turned the corner of the tavern, and looked on at the hooded figure in black and red. "How strange," Jiraiya thought to himself. He watched the pair walk off into a small bar where there were two figures sitting on stools with the owner behind the counter, serving them. The owner suddenly began to act mechanical—stopping for a pause, and then Jiraiya noticed all the foursome had been after was the money in the till. They walked out with it, splitting it between themselves while the owner fetched a rag and began wiping the counter. _No fingerprints,_ thought Jiraiya. "But why does it take four of them?" He asked himself. After more conversation Jiraiya couldn't make out, the four split up in two groups. Jiraiya watched the men in black and red go for downtown while the two at the bar in more plain clothes headed for the tavern. "Hm," Jiraiya remarked. But Jiraiya left a clone and decided to trail the red and black himself. One of them had hollow eyes. Like a monster. "Only the money," he kept saying. "No scenes."

Indeed. They didn't cause a scene, but they must have stolen over a thousand yen just today. The man with the hollow eyes had collected the most. Together, they continued walking on out of the village. "Well call me a frog," Jiraiya awed. "And I thought _I_ was good."

Jiraiya shut up for a moment while the hollowed man stopped. His cloak, stuff with money, looked like it weighed fifty pounds on its own. His gait was slow and calm, his eyes like a hawks, turning his head from side to side. "You think it's that same guy?"

"Absolutely," said the hollow eyed man.

"Shall we introduce ourselves?" the other grinned.

"No," he said, the red and black cloak unmoving. "Not now."

The other pouted.

Jiraiya really felt like asking them what they needed all that money for. Last week, they stole candy from a baby and re-sold it. Three days ago they stole money from a chapel. And earlier this morning, they stole three sticks of gum, six rolls of medical tape, two bookends from a store (cash, yes), and one really large Buddha statue. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think they were hoarders…with a crack addiction." The hollow-eyed man looked naturally greedy though. Jiraiya had seen him before, by his lonesome, thieving, stealing. "Why it'd put _me_ to shame," Jiraiya laughed.

The two suddenly vanished.

"…Buggers." Jiraiya grumbled. "Who the hell do they think they are."

.

Swirling and swirling—it halted upon Sarutobi's presence. "…Well…what the hell…" he said aloud, intrigued.

.


	17. White 7

_White _

7.

They were almost to Tanzaku.

"What good time we've made," he commented.

The woman grunted. Then all of a sudden, she stopped.

"What?"

"What is it?" Spoke the man in the back.

"A feeling," Chiyo pronounced.

"Sister?"

"A strange, funny feeling," she smiled grimly. "You know that feeling when a person walks over their grave? I feel that way. I feel like someone is walking over their grave right now."

"Not you then."

"No not me. What's that supposed to mean…?"

"I was only hoping to clarify."

"Yes, well, next time you're hoping to clarify, just say, 'I'm hoping to clarify that you are not speaking of yourself sister'. That would do."

"Yes sister."

Chiyo shot him a look.

"What would you like to do, Chiyo-sama?" asked the man in back.

"Investigate."

Somehow, the men knew she was going to say that.

.

Tsunade and her assistant Shizune were walking.

They said nothing.

But Shizune was trying to produce clever bits of conversation in her mind and morsels of jokes she'd heard, but nothing came to mind. Instead, her mind was left wondering about her training. Shizune cheered a minute later: Tsunade stopped on the path and turned, "I have just seen a perfect opportunity to further your training."

Shizune opened her mouth with a wide smile.

Tsunade took a few steps to her right, pointing to a near-dead raccoon in the middle of the road.

Shizune shrieked—TonTon flailed from her arms.

"HEAL IT!" Tsunade commanded.

"Err…Yes…ma'am…" Shizune approached the thing slowly, watching it's legs and arms twitch intermittently—no need to rush these things…Shizune shut her eyes and placed her hands overtop the fuzzy clump.

Tsunade smiled when it came back to life and tried to show it's thanks by hugging Shizune's screaming face.

.


	18. White 8

_White_

8.

Itachi opened the window and untied a rolled message from a bird's foot. "Mom, I think this is the recipe…" he called.

"Experimenting, are we…?"

Itachi suppressed a small smile as he handed it to his mother. "What's that supposed to mean…?" she said, noticing her husband coming in through the kitchen door. "How was work?" she asked, and he pecked her cheek. "Fine."

"This is the…'Rhubarb Salad'," She read. Fugaku made a face of horror at his son. Itachi suppressed laughter.

"…What?" Mikoto looked up from the page. "…What?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing mama."

"You don't think it'll be good? Well if it's good enough for Lady Koharu, it's good enough for all of us."

"Koharu!" Fugaku exclaimed, "When did you meet her?"

"Oh she was walking by today."

"Really." Fugaku looked surprised.

"Really," Mikoto smiled. "She said she used to have rhubarb all the time. Only…I guess she doesn't have it so much anymore for some strange reason."

"No wonder," Fugaku made a face again at his son.

"She was very nice," Mikoto defended. "And this doesn't look too complicated. Itachi. Get me out the big bowl. No. Yes. That one. Get me a spoon—oh no, I'll get that…Get some water in the bowl…Oh wait a minute."

"…What?" asked Itachi.

"We've got to hurry! This has to set in the fridge!"

Itachi watched while she whizzed and chopped and stirred and poured.

.

"I feel very strange now," Chiyo declared.

The two men were becoming weary. "Then we must be getting close," said one of them.

"Yes. Yes. Very close," she affirmed. "The time. It doesn't seem quite right though. We're too early."

"Too…early? For what ma'am?"

"…I don't know…"

.

Obito looked at the map and felt those same butterflies performing loops in his stomach once more. He stole a look at Kakashi, whose black eyes were starving over the page, memorizing it. His figure was steady, and his hands weren't shaky, and they didn't appear clammy, either. Even Rin was looking at the map calmly, considering. Her hands steadying her frame with reason and purpose. God she looked so beautiful.

_Here we go,_ he thought.

.


	19. Black 11a

_Black_

11a.

It was midnight.

Tsunade slipped out of her and Dan's home, and walked out, a soft cotton yukata around her waist. Her hair was done up in an attractive way. She powdered her already unblemished face and had put on some make up and lipstick. She had also walked out with a small suitcase in hand. Tsunade carried it as far as the main drag into the village where she concealed it in spot no one would find. Then she made her way back into the village. Toward the prison.

.


	20. Grey 1

_Grey_

1.

It was midnight. It had taken them the past two days just to find and reach the village. All of the dumplings were gone now, the men more starving than before.

"Konohagakure," said Minato.

"So, what will you do?"

"…I will go and check with…Sakumo. He should be here. He probably wouldn't believe in any of this nonsense."

The man in the colorful mask shrugged.

Minato first tried the mission's office. "Well you see, I activated Hiraishin seal, but it threw me off course," he had this speech ready. "I wondered if you could tell me that_ this _is reality. Ha ha."

Nope. He wasn't there.

Nor was he at the hokage's tower where he usually passed by on nights like this.

"Hatake Sakumo," Minato said to the secretary at the hospital.

She did not respond.

Her skin was as if the moonlight reached out and touched it when Minato clarified, "Where is he…?"

"…I…I thought he was _dead_, sir…"

"Oh…right…Sorry…" Minato left.

He brushed past Trippy Ninja and headed for the Hatake home. He headed there at an accelerated rate that Trippy Ninja caught up, "Still don't believe me?"

"Be quiet!"

Minato reached the house. But it appeared vacant. Minato jiggled the door handle, but it was locked. The fields, in back, Minato looked, appeared unkempt. Minato wiped the window and struggled to look inside: Dust.

"…Dear God."

Trippy Ninja stayed silent beside him. "…Somebody supposed to be here?"

"Somebody supposed…He's _supposed_ to be alive! Dead? Sakumo is dead! That's nonsense! No way…"

The ninja shrugged. "Perhaps in this alternate-verse…he's…dead."

"No…not _Sakumo-san_…" Minato crooned.

"I realize this must be difficult, but we should press on."

"How…? What do we do? This is bad…"

"As I was TRYING to tell you…" the man cleared his throat bitterly. "It is _bad_."

"Yes, well, I'm starting to listen now. What do you want us to do."

"I have a couple ideas, come."

.


	21. Black 11b

_Black_

11b.

Tsunade had her plan memorized. Granted she wasn't a _sannin_, but she was still the granddaughter of Senju Hashirama, the first Hokage. That had to count for something. She did not change her appearance. She did not change her chakra. She simply…got _in_.

Like she'd done before.

She slipped further inside. Past all the traps.

Like she'd done before.

She made it all the way to Jiraiya's jail cell.

Like she'd done before, undetected.

The sage was sitting cross-legged, a prison pallor about him in the dimmed light. "Pssst," she said.

Jiraiya turned, expecting to find a mouse when instead his black eyes widened upon her finger suddenly drawing to her face, "I. Told. You." she mouthed. She began working on the defenses on the bars. Quietly.

"Tsunade!" he mouthed her name. "You. CAN'T. do. THIS."

"Yes. I. can."

"No! I. Won't. have. It!"

"Do. you. want. your. freedom. or. NOT." Tsunade paused in her undoings and stared at him firmly.

Jiraiya stared at her question for a moment.

"I. thought. so," she smiled.

"No!" Jiraiya refuted, waving his hands. "You—!"

"Shh. Just. _shut_. up."

For one of the very few times in his life, Jiraiya didn't really know what to do. So he waited. While Tsunade worked.

.

Sarutobi had very few sleepless nights. This was one of them. Something—a feeling call it, told him to go to the Hokage tower, and check on the ball on the cushion on his desk. It was a very silly thing to do. He hadn't mentioned it to anybody yet, not even Danzou who might have gladly inspected it and dropped it in a vat of boiling water in hopes of ridding whatever virus had overtaken it. Sarutobi doubted that would have worked, but it would have please Danzou to try. Danzou was always eager to please everybody. Dear Danzou.

Sarutobi sat upright, hoping not to disturb his wife beside him. He thought about it a while longer, and decided for shits and giggles to go look.

He pulled on a shirt, some shoes, and at the last minute, a clean vest his wife had hung outside to dry, and walked on to the tower. Something funny was in his bones tonight. The wind, blowing in from the east with leaves and the smell of wood, would not reveal.

.


	22. Black 12

_Black_

12.

Obito stood outside, trembling. "I didn't know it was so cold, at midnight."

"Well she must be coming home at some point."

"Of course she must."

"Oh screw it, this is crazy."

"But we looked everywhere!"

"BOO!"

The boys jumped out of their shoes—Obito literally.

Kushina smiled. "What's this about?" she said, her key to her front door in hand. "You looked all over to see me? Boys, it's _mid-night!"_

"…We know," Obito spoke first. "But we needed to tell you something."

"Yeah. Since Minato-sensei isn't here. Did he leave on that mission already?" Kakashi lowered his voice.

Kushina frowned. After she had gone to Danzou, she sought all persons and all means to find out if her husband had even arrived to his Hiraishin seal location a couple days prior, but nothing. NOTHING. The Iwa army was getting closer, and soon they would move! Nawaki-sama had not even been heard from. The five leaf ninja were utterly alone and defenseless. And Minato, her husband, the fourth Hokage, was nowhere to be found. "Um, yeah…so what can I do for you?" she asked, allowing them inside after her.

"Well…"

"Well…"

"Oh for Heavens' sake, you didn't get into some kind of trouble, did you?"

"No ma'am," said Obito. "But…But _I_ saw some."

"Oh? What about?" Kushina asked more eagerly, hoping it was about her husband.

"It was…"

"Tell her!" Kakashi elbowed the Uchiha.

"It was Tsunade-sama. I think she's going to free Jiraiya!"

"What? ...Do you know when?"

"…No."

"Oh my, oh my," said Kushina, unsure herself of what to do. "You told _no_ one?"

"No ma'am," the teenage boys replied.

"You goofballs, _I_ don't want to _know!"_ Kushina spun and began searching for a writing instrument and some paper. "Sorry…" Obito whimpered, "We just…didn't know what to do…"

"It's all right Obito," assuaged Kushina in a warm tone over his woeful state. (That poor kid!) "Everything will be fine. You_ sure_ you don't know when Tsunade was planning on doing this?"

"Probably as soon as possible," Kakashi shrugged. "It'd make sense."

"…Dan," Kushina suddenly blurted aloud. Though he wasn't her cup of tea in a romantic way, Dan was one of their best shinobi. His honestly was evident through everything he did. Tsunade would effectively rip his heart out. "I don't get it," Kushina said, folding the note.

"Yeah…Tsunade-sama seemed…really…" He suddenly received another quick jab—"_Friendly_ with Jiraiya."

"Friendly?"

Obito nodded his head up and down.

"Friendly in an _adult_ sort of way." Kakashi specified.

Obito nodded, this time after a pause.

"Oh dear," Kushina bemoaned. "Well, come with me boys."

Obito and Kakashi followed.

.

Chiyo lied awake in the Konoha forest. Usually she slept soundly, like a baby. But tonight was something different. Something stirred her bones to wake and wait. "It's so strange," she murmured. "I wish I knew why."

.


	23. Grey 2

Grey

2.

Minato waited outside a building, shielded in shadow. After what occurred at the hospital, he did not wish to be seen just now, even in moonlight. He regretted the incident.

Finally, the man with the colorful mask came out, holding a paper sac. "Okay, let's go."

"So-So—" Minato was momentarily tongue tied. "What's that. And where to."

"Food. Aaaand, out of the village in the woods."

Minato burst out into a crazy laughter.

"…What?"

"…Nothing," he calmed.

They traveled out of the village.

.


	24. White 9

_White_

9.

"…I saw him. And I thought you should know. I didn't want to get into trouble for _not_ saying anything."

"Rightly so. That is strange behaviour. Incredibly strange," he replied. "Sakumo's been dead for five years," Danzou said, manning the conference room of the Hokage tower. "He should be off on the mission by now. I will send a bird. I will send a bird to Sarutobi, as well; see what he thinks."

"Thank you very much sir."

"Thank you…miss…?"

"Kaoru, sir."

"Thank you miss Kaoru for coming all this way. Don't doubt yourself."

"Thank you," she blushed slightly and bowed before she left.

"Yondaime…asking about Sakumo…" Danzou chuckled. "Now there's one I haven't heard before…"

.

"What the hell."

"What, 'what the hell'."

"You!"

"Me?"

"What the hell!"

Sarutobi looked at her in no less than astonishment.

"What are you thinking about?" She turned on their bedside lamp.

"…Nothing…"

She stared at him in no less than amazement. "Oh really? Nothing."

Sarutobi eyed the upper part of the wall while she smirked softly. She rolled back over. "Okay then." She said, turning back off the light.

"…It's the crystal ball," he confessed. "It's…acting unusual."

She turned back to face him. "That's not good."

Suddenly, the couple perked at the exact same time at a distinct pecking on their window, "That can't be good either," he said, getting up to open the window.

.


	25. Grey 3

_Grey_

3.

The man inhaled the scent of the bag he carried to a remote spot outside the village. "Oh merry chopsticks made of gold…" he murmured.

Minato looked at him strangely while he fished out the contents, "Want some?"

"…Do I want some…!" Minato exclaimed, "At a time like this!"

"Hey I don't want to die on an empty stomach mister big important man," the ninja again shifted his torso in a vain way. "I'm eating," He said adamantly, and thus began.

Minato blinked. And missed it.

"So…" Minato was walking around in circles, while a masked man was intaking food. "Could you please tell me your _plan_ while you eat?"

"Of course," He pointed the chopsticks in the air, "The first thing I'd like to do is recreate the event that got us to this point. We recreate what happened. You go wherever you were. I go where I was (which I think I could navigate back to at a reasonable speed). And we try it again."

"But…you tried to go to your home, and it didn't work."

"Yes. You must place the seal on me again."

"Ohhh I see. But wouldn't that make it worse?"

"Possibly."

"Then…why will we do that?"

"To rule out doing that."

"…Okay," Minato eventually decided, not entirely thrilled with the idea. "Then what's plan B?"

"Well. If that doesn't work…" the man was working on the rice. "I have to think that my arch-nemesis might be involved in this somehow."

"…Hold it hold it…You never mentioned anything about an arch-nemesis."

"I didn't?"

"No." Minato stared at him firmly.

"Oh."

Minato turned away, walking around again, tearing the sod with his shoes in utter frustration.

"It couldn't be the case…I haven't seen him for quite some time…although…Well," the man finished. "Let's try the re-creation, shall we?"

"Any guarantees if it doesn't work?"

"Hopefully we'll wind up together again."

Minato rolled his eyes upward. "Yes please. I pray we do…"

"Now, I have an idea for us to activate our seals instantaneously. If we are off," the ninja warned, "This attempt won't even count as an attempted fix of the problem. Here's my idea…"

.

Minato felt strange, lurking around his home. It was his home. He could see the lights off, and knew Kushina must be inside, asleep at this hour. His body begged to meet her and embrace her, sweep her off her feet, hug her, and ask her why the world had to be so insane and them so not. But Minato had to stand there, just outside that front door, and wait for the signal. If _I'm off by a fraction,_ he thought, _Kushina might be gone forever…_

Minato swallowed.

He stood, both hungry and his cloak waving slightly.

What if Kushina, whoever she was in this world, caught him? What if she was up, getting her milk when not the fridge disappeared…but himself…? She might yell, _MINAATOOO!_

A small bird summons appeared suddenly, in a tree, he noticed this because it was staring a genjutsu straight at him.

Minato looked down immediately.

He initiated his own summoning jutsu.

Flash.

.


	26. Black 13a

_Black_

13a.

Sarutobi saw him flying. Namikaze Minato. He saw many things intersecting the young man's path. But he was being flung like a flower out over the sea. Would he float? Minato tumbled to the ground. "What the fuck," Sarutobi stared over it intensely until the image blurred all of a sudden. Sarutobi pounded the table, after hearing the man's scream—if he could call it that. "Minato," Sarutobi turned, then he waved his hand over the ball. The ball responded by showing images, random ones, at an accelerated rate yet. More than the day before. "Minato…is in trouble…"

Sarutobi went to tell Danzou.

.


	27. Grey 4

_Grey_

4.

Chiyo screamed. "AH-HAH!"

A man in black with a mask had come down flying from the sky. "I knew it!" she cried.

Her brother and the shinobi were waking up after their doze, the shinobi took his place between her and the possible danger in the middle of the Konoha thicket of trees. They had been on their way back to Suna from meeting both Dan and Tsunade, but Chiyo could not contain her glee at their discovery she had predicted, "A man comes falling from the sky!" she cackled, and raced forward.

The man groaned. "Maybe I really did break my neck this time…"

"Who the heck are you!" said Chiyo.

"Where's the Hokage, of Konohagakure…?"

Chiyo was speechless for a moment. "How am I supposed to know? You've just fallen from the sky, where did YOU come FROM?"

The ninja scowled, securing his mask to make sure absolutely that nobody would see his face. "I came from hell," he described. "Now please excuse me," he activated sub-plan A.

Flash.

Chiyo frowned. "Mother…" she cursed.

.


	28. Black 13b

_Black_

13b.

Sarutobi suddenly stopped at the doorway, and looked back at the ball. A quick swipe of yellow sent him running to it. "Minato!" He said aloud. A man in black had suddenly joined him deep in the forest.

"Are you all right?"

"Nice of you to show up!" Minato was still holding the back of his head.

"Bumped your head too, did you?"

Minato growled in pain.

"So did I…"

The scene changed. It would not change back, no matter how much Sarutobi commanded it to.

After hesitation, he summoned aides. "Tell Danzou to come here. Tell the Intel division to come here. Tell Koharu to come here. Now."

Sarutobi would not leave it now.

He stayed. Waiting to see more of their missing Hokage.

.


	29. Grey 5

_Grey_

5.

"Are you all right?"

"In a while," said Trippy Ninja.

"Did it work?"

"I don't know."

"Where did you wind up?"

"I…Couldn't tell. I saw some sand shinobi."

"Who?"

"A really…interesting woman. Hat. Long hair. Very wild. Very loud. Two others with her."

"Perhaps…Chiyo...? The meeting…?" said Minato, very confused. "If it worked. Would you be able to return home?"

The man seemed to swallow. "I can give it a try."

"Do it then."

Minato blinked.

"No?"

"No," Trippy Ninja shook his head, kneeling down again. "We're still not right. We've just made it worse."

"…How do you mean?" Minato looked at him from the forest floor, trying to make sense of it. Trippy Ninja sat down, "We have just pulled the threads of chaos more…entwined with each other."

Minato stared, waiting for him to go on.

The man smiled beneath his mask. "Which means, it may be possible, for people…to...intercross. Like we are."

"…No."

"…Yes," said the man regretfully.

"THEN WHY IN THE HELL DID WE JUST **DO** THAT!"

"BECAUSE I THOUGHT IT MIGHT HAVE ANOTHER EFFECT!"

"IT OBVIOUSLY DIDN'T!"

"WELL DO YOU HAVE AN IDEA MISTER I'M SO BIG AND IMPORTANT-?"

"DON'T YOU FLAUNT YOURSELF AT ME YOU MORON!"

"LUNATIC!"

Minato struggled to rise. "Okay. Fine. We're really really screwed now. NOW what."

The man rose. "I wonder if it was the dumplings."

Minato was taken aback. "What?"

"The dumplings. You didn't have them just now. We had eaten them."

Minato sat back down.

"The seal, too…D…Don't be downhearted…It's my fault. I had a hunch it probably wouldn't work. Hmm…"

"Hmm WHAT."

"There's only one man who can help us now."

"And who's that."

"My arch nemesis."

Minato sighed. "Of course," He stood up. "Your arch-nemesis."

"Of course he may be the cause for all this, but…"

"What did you ever do to him?"

"Talk."

"You pissed him off just for talking to him."

"Pretty much. And finding him too. I found him when I was eight or so."

"…Super."

"Where does he live?"

"This way," Trippy Ninja led.

Minato followed. They traveled at a very quick pace. "Is it very far."

"It is far west in Konoha, near the border, near Kusa. It is near where I live, actually."

"How can he help us?"

"By winning his game. He hasn't played like this with me in a while."

"Why now?"

"Why you?"

"Why me?"

The man chuckled.

"I'm going to seriously lose my mind before this is over. I hope you know that."

"Ah well. I've already lost mine. Welcome to the Flying Techniques Club."

.


	30. Black 14

_Black_

14.

Kushina felt like she just missed something. When she came back from talking with the police. She could almost feel Minato. On the wind.

.

Kakashi left Obito's feeling jealous. Kakashi did not wish to go home. Nobody would be there of course, but still.

Kakashi walked alone in the moonlight, along the path he took in and out of the shinobi village. Despising the countryside and the weathered, rugged house he approached, surrounded by trees on the left and more trees on the right, Kakashi felt the inclination to turn back and find out what would happen with Tsunade. Had they alerted Dan yet? Had they _arrested_ her yet? The questions began to burn in his mind when he opened the door and a voice came through from the other side, "Where in the world have you been?"

Kakashi jumped back, "Mom?" He said in surprise.

"Where were you?" she insisted.

"I was…I was…with Obito," he said truthfully.

"Doing what?" She pulled her teenage son inside.

"Nothing."

"Go to your room," she decided while Kakashi understood why she was home from the hospital. "I'll be along to tuck you in in a moment."

"Mom I'm not _three_," Kakashi argued adamantly.

"So? Run along…"

The Mrs Hatake turned back to look inside the doorframe of her bedroom. Sakumo was in it. Drifting. Sighing, she tried to remember what she was going to the kitchen for. "Oh yes." Water. She brought it back in a large glass and set it on the floor. Her husband seemed even more lethargic under these familiar lights. "…Sakumo?" she whispered his name. His eyelids fluttered open for a moment, but they remained closed. Getting up, she headed for her son's room.

"So…where _were_ you with Obito at this_ hour_?"

"…Mom, I can't tell you," said Kakashi honestly.

"Oh you can't?"

"No. We had to tell Kushina. You'll find out…eventually."

"What sort of trouble did you get into?"

"Mom, it's NOTHING!" Kakashi refuted adamantly as only a young teenage boy can. "It was about Obito more than anything else—he…Well he saw something that we had to…report…" Kakashi worded.

"And it took you this _long_ to come home?"

Kakashi nodded.

She shook her head (smiling). "Your father's home," she said. At this, Kakashi turned his head away toward the wall. "We came home at this hour to make it safe. A room is still open in his name for extra security. The doctors and I thought it best that he…convalesce, here."

Kakashi bit his lip.

"…He's still your father," she said wearily, "If you like it or not. He's still here. And thank your lucky stars that he is."

Kakashi said nothing.

She twisted the line of her mouth, wanting to say more. Instead she ruffled his hair and kissed his head. "Goodnight."

"G'night…"

She returned to her room.

Sakumo was still asleep.

.

"What in pajamas are you calling me at this odd hour for?"

"I think I know where Minato is."

Danzou stood before Sarutobi, looking down at the image flipping ball and him respectively, "Where?"

"In here."

"Where?"

Sarutobi pointed, "There, did you see that? They're moving now."

"Who?"

"Minato. And a masked man."

"What's happened to him?"

"I'm not sure. I…" Sarutobi's eyes were already beginning to tire. His head felt dizzy, keeping track of the aberrant movement of the pictures. "I have a theory."

"Care to share?" asked Danzou while Koharu just entered, in an ivory yukata no less—

"He is…trapped."

"Trapped? Trapped where?"

"In his jutsu. Somehow."

Danzou jumped back on his heel while Koharu approached the desk. "How!" Danzou exclaimed.

"I don't know."

Koharu looked at the ball.

Flash.

.


	31. Black 15

_Black_

15.

They started laughing.

Like maniacs it rolled off their bellies loudly.

Wheezing and out of breath, they laughed. They laughed hard and jolly. Like they all used to in the bars and taverns in Konohagakure, late at night.

They threw themselves at each other in a long lost embrace and laughed still. _See?_ Tsunade's eyes brimmed with laughter and agility. We did it!

Jiraiya could not control himself. He leaned his head against a tree trunk and was laughing so hard, did not realize he was also crying at the same time.

Tsunade rolled her head, "Did you see Fugaku's _face?_" she cackled, laughing up at their new surroundings. "Princess Tsunade has left the building! Taking Jiraiya, too!" she recounted their fantastic tale.

Jiraiya cried further. "Very shocked." He contributed.

Tsunade laughed more. "I…I told you. I _told you_ I'd free you!"

Jiraiya sobbed.

Tsunade turned, hearing the strange noise and watched him pull himself away and wipe his face. "Jiraiya…?" she said. "…Why…?"

"Oh Tsunade…precious, beautiful Tsunade…Forgive me…"

Tsunade was knocked out from him suddenly coming up behind. She was knocked out immediately. Jiraiya sobbed further, looking at her suitcase. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "But we can never be together. Never."

Jiraiya turned, and ran.

He ran all the way until dawn and then some.

.

"He couldn't have gotten far," said Chiyo in regards to their masked encounter.

"Sister…"

"We've got to find him. He's an unusual character."

"Ma'am…"

"I heard that you. Keep quiet."

.

The burden placed itself on her shoulders from the moment she awoke each morning. She went to Itachi's room and saw that he was still alive. After that, she made some coffee, and wondered how badly a mood her husband would come back to her in. After losing Jiraiya, and now about to lose his only son…Mikoto burst out into sobs. "Oh God," she cried, "Spare, him, PLEASE!"

She jumped. Too much coffee. She was becoming addicted. "Itachi…" she put on her brave front. The brave front lodged itself upon her face the moment her son was awake and ready to receive the world. "Sweetheart, good morning…"

"Hi mom," he sat on the kitchen chair opposite her. "Good morning…Is that all for me?"

"It is if you'll eat any of it," she smiled.

Itachi looked at her strangely and finished breakfast rather quickly. Mikoto brightened strangely—"You never eat that much…"

"I'm going to go train today." he said, putting away the dishes by himself using a step-stool. "What…?" She turned, almost dropping her cup, staring at him in shock. "You can't _be_…a shinobi, Itachi…"

Itachi looked at her very strangely. "Why…?"

"Because you're sick."

"I'm not sick. I feel fine," he said.

Mikoto swallowed, her limbs began to shake. "Itachi…"

"What?"

She chewed her lip, watching him. "Yesterday, at the hospital…"

Itachi's face suddenly took on a slightly paler shade—"But mom…I wasn't at the hospital yesterday…We had the _dinner_ last night, don't you remember? You made Rhubarb Salad."

Mikoto screamed.

.

.

.

.


	32. Grey 6

_Grey_

6.

Minato thought and thought while they traveled. "How can we put this right?" he asked.

"My arch-nemesis will hold the answer."

"Let me guess," Minato smiled. "He has a Flying Monkey Technique?"

"No. He deals in space-time ninjutsu. He has for a very very long time. As long as I can remember, he has been doing experiments on mice and summons and things. I was eight years old when I found him. He was the creepy, dilapidated shack on the top of a big hill. I had courage enough to go. More courage than all the other villagers. When I went inside, he screamed and shouted very vile things at me. He tried to kick me out. But I was a fighter then. A fighter with ninja talents. I somehow managed to hide in that house while he screamed at me to get out."

"I wouldn't blame him," Minato inserted to himself.

"Well, he went back to his work. He works like a madman, he does. I came out at suppertime and for a while; he did nothing but stare at me. Looking me all over as if he hadn't seen a child before. I stared at him too. His desk. His table. I couldn't read language back then. I didn't know what it all meant. He explained it to me, in his own way. He said, 'Do you know what I'm doing here?' I said I didn't know. He said, 'I am trying to rip time.'

"'Why?' I asked. 'Is time like a piece of paper?'

"He shook his head. 'It's like…It's like…a toy bear,' he said, nodding at one on the shelf. I thought it was very strange he had one.

"At once I didn't approve. 'You can't do that,' I said matter-of-factly. 'Everything will come rushing out at once.'

"'Exactly,' he said. 'I want it to. I want to live in the world where my wife and child did not die.'"

"Oh dear." said Minato.

"Yes exactly," said Trippy Ninja. "Since that time, believing the timelines should not converge, I have tried to thwart his experiments. He has beaten me up a great many times, but I never believed he was very close to his goal. Perhaps he wanted us to activate our seals at the same time by sending me a false message."

"That your daughter was ill?"

"Exactly."

"Well whatever we did, it worked…Sakumo can't be dead…" Minato added in confusion, remembering the look on the woman's face.

"Indeed. Which is why we must stop this madness at once."

.


	33. White 10

_White_

10.

Chiyo looked around. "Here we are. A trail."

Just as soon as she said it, a man, a white flash, raced by. Chiyo immediately pursued him, sending kunai and throwing stars ahead of his path, "STOP, YOU!"

Jiraiya fumbled for a moment, turned, and fought blade with blade, pulling out the kunai Tsunade had given him when they had broken out from the jail, deflecting one aimed for his head at the last millisecond.

"…Jiraiya…! The toad sage!" Chiyo declared as they stopped—"Hey, wait! Where are you going!" But she lost him suddenly among the thicket in the west. "Dammit! Now what!"

Her companions were at a loss for words.

.

Yondaime heard the noise just as they separated. Worried, he thought about doubling back to check if his students were all right. But Kakashi was in charge, right? A jounin, yes? Minato shook his head. "I can't second guess him…" he agreed. "I'll be back soon enough."

.

Kakashi paused.

Then all of a sudden Jiraiya tumbled onto the scene behind a tree, getting a shuriken unstuck from his prison clothes, "Fucking garb," he mumbled, getting himself untangled from foliage and fabric.

"What the hell…!" Kakashi said. Rin and Obito found the sage with their eyes, widening. "Ji-Jiraiya-sama…!"

"Oh…Kakashi…No time to stop…" Jiraiya wheezed. "Tell your dad I'm really sorry, okay?"

Kakashi's eyes bulged and his heart nearly stopped.

"I gotta go…" said Jiraiya slowly eyeing Kakashi in a wild way in hopes the boy wouldn't dare try and catch him. "Tell him…I'm really sorry."

Jiraiya vanished.

Kakashi didn't follow, and he didn't say anything for a very, very long time.

Obito however was left scratching his head. "What was Jiraiya-sama doing…in prison clothes? Should we tell somebody…?"

Rin shrugged. She looked at their leader. His profile was turned. "That was really weird," she murmured. And here, she whispered to Obito, "His father _is_…"

"Yeah, I know," Obito whispered back.

"…Kakashi?" said Rin softly.

"Send Yondaime a message with a bird, Rin, then we'll move on," he decided.

"…Okay…what do we say…?"

"Exactly what you saw."

.

Minato got two messages. One: Jiraiya in prison clothes…Is he in trouble? Two: Was it you who asked about Sakumo at the hospital the other night?

Minato thought he was living in weird land for a moment.

"No…" Minato answered both. He faced ahead to his mission: it took precedence.

.

"Have a wonderful day at work, sweetheart."

The man grumbled.

Mikoto smiled, and pecked his cheek. "Itachi…Itachi…? Where is that boy, he's usually up before you…"

"Must be the Rhubarb Salad…kicking in."

Mikoto made a face and purposefully bumped into her husband's shoulder as she picked up his empty plate. "I rather liked it."

"Well you like it then."

"Itachi…"

She went into his bedroom after Fugaku left. "Itachi?"

Itachi was sound asleep.

Was he sick?

.

Tsunade and Shizune had gotten up yet again for another day. Of walking. It was bound to be uneventful assuming no other raccoons or possums had the indecency to get themselves injured within walking distance. Come noon, they stopped and had lunch and toured the downtown. It was there Tsunade went walking after playing Pachinko and winning several rounds. She treated herself to a drink her young assistant didn't know about. And there in the lane near the park she something—someone in the trees. Someone with long grey-ish-whitish hair. Her heart lifted in her chest against her better judgment and she walked inside the little thicket, and saw him putting on a brown robe, "Dan…?" she murmured so softly, it may only have been audible to her.

Jiraiya jumped, tripping over the fabric. "Tsu-Tsunaaa…!" He gasped in horror. "How did you…?"

"…Jiraiya…?" she said, in equal surprise.

"How did you catch up to me?"

For a moment, Tsunade was unsure how to respond until she looked at the drink in her right hand. Shaking her head, knowing she couldn't have had enough already to make her this drunk, she said, "What are you doing here?"

"What are _you_ doing here?" Jiraiya repeated incredulously.

"Me?" Tsunade narrowed her eyes.

"I knocked you out cold."

Her eyes widened, "What? You did not! I haven't seen you in at least _two months!_ You said you were doing reconnaissance!"

"What are you doing?"

"I don't know what the hell I'm doing! I just wanted to get away from the village and train Shizune!"

Jiraiya stood up, and dusted his new pants slowly. "Then…we're going our separate ways?"

Tsunade laughed shortly. "I guess!"

Jiraiya took a step backwards. "Tsunade…I'm so sorry, for everything."

Tsunade looked at him, perplexed he should say such a thing unexpectedly. "Jiraiya…are you drunk?" she asked him.

"Are you?" He had noticed the drink in her hand.

"Me!"

"Tsunade, we can't be together," he said at last.

"Well duh," she said. "I've never liked you."

"THEN WHY DID YOU BREAK ME OUT OF PRISON."

Tsunade stared. She might have fainted. She might have been really drunk. But she was in complete control, and Jiraiya was speaking utter and complete nonsense to her, "…Huh?"

"THEN WHY DID YOU DO IT IF YOU DON'T LIKE ME? WHAT ARE YOU PLAYING AT?"

Tsunade took a step backward. "Are…you…okay…?"

Jiraiya threw up his hands, "DON'T FOLLOW ME!" he screamed.

Tsunade saw him vanish. She let the drink drop from her hand and shatter on the ground in several large pieces. "What…just…happened…?"

.


	34. Black 16

_Black_

16.

When Kakashi awoke that morning, he was not in a good mood. First of all, he awoke. He awoke in that po-dunk dinky house with the country smell, and second, ohhh second, were the words he most hated to hear, "Oh, Kakashi! There's Rhubarb Jam on the table, I just brought it up from the cellar today!"

He groaned loud enough Mizukage could hear.

"What?" his mother smiled. "Didn't get enough sleep? Last night too exciting?"

"Maa…" The sight of the red jar like the color of Kushina's hair brought back the memories of last night. "I'm going out."

"But you haven't eaten anything yet!"

He grabbed a piece of toast, "Later!"

Kakashi headed out the back door and headed for the village, full speed. "Obito will know what's going on," he told himself. "Most of the Uchiha around him work as policemen."

It took him six or seven minutes; quickly he knocked on his friend's door, and to his delight, Obito answered, "Kakashi! Jiraiya and Tsunade are _gone!"_

"They are?"

"Yeah!" Obito nodded his head feverishly, "Last night!" he dropped his voice, closing the door and meeting his friend outside, "I heard about it this morning! Fugaku-sama was real upset!"

"How did they do it!"

"Nobody knows!"

"Oh my gosh!"

"…Who says boys don't gossip?"

The boys turned (fearing it was an adult) only to find their fellow teammate standing there, in a bright and colorful kimono from the east. "Hi!" she smiled cutely, waving her delicate fingers.

"RIN!" Obito raced forward, and Kakashi came up close behind. "Rin!" Wanting to hug her, Obito threw his arms around her awkwardly and then respectfully maintained his distance, "How was your trip?"

"Great!" she smiled, and pointed at her colorful robes, "How do you like my new outfit?"

"Great! Very beautiful," the boys admired.

Rin smiled modestly, "Aww, thank you!"

"Rin, did you hear?" said Obito, "Jiraiya and Tsunade are gone!"

"Yeah, we heard about it coming in. My parents did," said Rin. "That's awful. About Tsunade-sama anyway."

"Yeah," said the boys, briefly pondering Tsunade's part in the matter. The respected woman had broken him out of prison. Just like she said she would.

"Obito heard about it," said Kakashi. "He was there. Right there near the cell when Lady Tsunade said she would break him out."

"What? Really?" said Rin.

Obito nodded, haunted rather than haughty.

"But it didn't matter. They broke free anyway," said Kakashi.

"Yeah…"

Rin sat down on the edge of the porch, her left side flanked by the big flower pot, and the boys followed, Obito sat next to her, then Kakashi sat down next to Obito. "So where all did you go?" asked Obito before Kakashi could ask.

"The land of waves, a great little village on the north shore, it was where we picked up this," she mentioned her outfit, "It was _so_ beautiful up there. I missed you both so much!" she said. "Did you get my letter?"

Obito had passed it on. Kakashi nodded. "Oh great!" she said, "We took all kinds of pictures, and we bought a painting, it wasn't very expensive. It's a print of this beautiful bay on the north shore called 'Sunset Bay', you'll have to come and see it! It's in our dining room. I went swimming, We stayed at a really nice place, we went walking over the cliffs, there was one up there called 'Castle Rock'! Obito you would have loved it! It was really big black rock, and we just kept climbing and climbing, I even got scared before we got to the top! I yelled out to both of you, I think I could see your houses!"

The boys listened to her talk with rapt attention. Kakashi noticed Obito seldom took his eyes off of her. It made Kakashi sick with jealously. Obito loved her, ever since they were children in school. Despite advancing so far in his short life thus far, none of that ever seemed to impress Rin at all in Kakashi's experience. Obito didn't have to _do_ anything or _be_ anything and they were happy. Kakashi stood. "I'm glad you had a great time Rin," he said.

She smiled. "Oh yes! I have something for you both."

"Aw, Rin, you didn't have to!"

"But I wanted to!" she said, reaching for some things in her drawstring pouch. "Here! This one is for you, Obito!"

It was a rock.

Kakashi laughed.

"It's not just _any_ rock," Rin smiled. "See the inscription on it? It's a protection stone. If you keep it with you, you may not run into trouble so often," she giggled.

"Oh Rin, it's PERFECT!" Obito hugged the stone to his face. "I'll always keep it with me!"

Kakashi smiled behind blue fabric. "You should sleep with it too; it may cut your nightmares down."

Obito narrowed his eyes momentarily before examining the helpful gift further, "Oh thank you Rin!"

"You're welcome. And this, is for you!" she presented a small pouch. "I stitched a talisman inside for your protection too!"

"…What is it?"

"It's a medkit! Pocket-sized, 'cause I know you like to travel light. Have you been promoted yet?"

"No…" Kakashi shook his head glumly. "I'm really close. But thank you—thank you so much Rin."

"You're both very welcome! It's so great to see you guys again…I can't wait to change," she laughed, pulling at the drapes of fabric. "Well, I'll see you later!" she hopped down and hurried off.

"…I'm so glad she's back." said Obito.

"…Yeah."

.

Danzou returned, "Ah, Sarutobi, good. You didn't go anywhere."

"How could I?" the man said with a weird smile. "The ball is absolutely going nuts."

"Here are those documents you asked for," provided Danzou, setting them down neatly.

"…Oh," said Saru, surprised Danzou had fetched them for him in such a polite manner. "Um, thank you. I can't even remember asking for them…"

"So how's the crystal?"

"Haywire."

"I see," he observed. "What can it mean?"

"I don't know," said Sarutobi.

"Koharu's been checking up on it," said Danzou, "And I've had the Intel team working since last night."

"…Did Homura tell you about it?"

"Ho-Homura..?" Danzou stared with his eyes wide.

"The ball," clarified Sarutobi, "Did he tell you about it."

"…No…You told me yourself, last night Saru…You…"

Sarutobi stared at him for a moment. He looked back down at the ball.

"Don't you remember?" said Danzou with a sudden, worried look in his eyes. _And don't you know—Homura died…?_

"No…as a matter fact…" said Sarutobi…"I don't…"

"Oh my."

.


	35. Black 17

_Black_

17.

It was just another morning at work until he was summoned to a lower level in the hospital. "You only," said the nurse remorsefully. Dan hated being singled out this morning, but he did not regret going. There she was. Lying on the bed. Still unconscious. "He must have knocked her out hard…But she'll be all right."

Dan's eyes filled with rage. "I don't want to see her, thank you." He turned and stepped outside. He walked out of the hospital and raised his fist, sending a punch directed at the concrete pedestal, "GAH!" he growled. He never growled like that before.

He collapsed on the steps, ignoring the people coming in and out, focused on solely the deep and horrible pain lodged in his heart. He hadn't cried yet. But he felt like it now. Tsunade was safe. She had been betrayed by Jiraiya. She was back here. In the village. Soon to face a trial.

Dan wept.

.

Orochi had awakened in Konoha.

How strange.

This isn't Wave Country at all…

.


	36. White 11

_White_

11.

Mikoto entered the hospital, carrying her boy in her arms.

Something was awfully wrong with him. One day, he was en route to be a chuunin, the next, sicker than sick. "Can I help you ma'am?"

Mikoto looked down at another small child. "I'm afraid not. I need a good strong doctor," she explained.

"Oh, let me get Lady Tsunade!"

"…You know where she is?"

"Not really," said Kabuto, "But she's the best!"

"I know she's the best, but she's gone off. No one has seen her in a while."

"…I saw her a few days ago," said Kabuto.

Mikoto looked at him strangely.

Kabuto looked at her strangely.

.


	37. Grey 7

_Grey_

7.

Out of breath, the men reached the house just as the sun was setting over the horizon.

The house was indeed still on top of a hill in the middle of nowhere ("He hates neighbors,") and here it was in shadow, creaky, dusty, and leaning slightly to the left. Catching their breath, the men looked at each other. "Here?" Minato asked.

"Here," the ninja confirmed. "Now be careful walking up there. He has traps that are invisible."

"What sort of traps aren't?" Minato wondered aloud.

Trippy Ninja led the way. Stepping over and under invisible wire, Minato followed suit. Suddenly, Trippy Ninja jumped five feet ahead of him. Minato did as well. "Fake grass." said Trippy Ninja. "Oh wow, I didn't even notice." Minato remarked. "Yes. He is exceptionally good at traps," replied the ninja, making it to the front door. He rapped on it a few times, "Open up!"

The masked ninja looked at the blue border, about six inches wide, with writing all over it, around the top of the outside walls, on each side. "Funny."

"What?"

"That's new," he nodded to this magic tape. "Open up!" he repeated, calling his arch-nemesis by name. "Or I shall break down this door!"

After a moment, Minato frowned, "I don't think he's listening."

"Yes. You're right. Hiiiii…..YAH!" Trippy Ninja broke down the door with one swift kick, never losing his balance. He lowered his leg, and when the dust cleared, the anteroom appeared empty.

The masked ninja stepped inside first. A brown dog attacked from the left. "AH! Doggy-chan! What are you doing here?"

Minato wasn't sure whether to aid or not—the masked man was soon able to shoo the fuzzy brown thing off. "It's only me!" said Trippy Ninja. "Where's your master?"

After no response save a muffled old bark sitting down now in the corner lethargically, the masked ninja looked around. "He must be here somewhere. This way," He led Minato to the kitchen. "Arch-nemesis…" called the ninja, "We are aware of your devious plan that collided our jutsu. Come out now mister, I'd like a word with you…!"

"Maybe the basement?"

"Yes," agreed the ninja. "I'll go ahead."

There were several traps to avoid going downstairs. Luckily, they were the same kind as outside except one smelly thing that erupted which Minato did not wish to guess the source of. But finally they arrived in the basement. It was cooler, damp, and grey looking. The same blue band around the house was down here too, a giant medallion of a seal in the center of a large room on the left hand side where Trippy Ninja's arch-nemesis stood, hunched over a work table filled with various instruments as if he were a carpenter, and not madman. "I hear you," he said. "Don't come any further." The masked ninja moved his hand, cautioning Minato to do as he told.

"Arch-nemesis," said the masked ninja, "Why are you being so mean?"

The man—the older ninja chuckled.

"We know all about your little experiment mister! Fess up!"

He turned. Minato saw an aging man, maybe once very handsome. Grey and black hair, over loose gray clothes. His teeth looked a little blue. His eyes were a dim hazel color. Blue and black paint were on his clothes. A bright blue sash was tied around his waist, like the magic tape in and around his home. His bare arms were tattooed with protective seals. He grinned a toothy smile—"It's been such a long time for you."

"Indeed," Trippy Ninja was not seeking small talk any longer—"You dastardly fiend, why have you upset the balance?"

"As I told you before. I wanted to."

"Do you _know_ what damage you are causing?" said Minato.

"I do."

Trippy Ninja stepped forward calmly. "What exactly did you do, and how do we reverse it?"

Minato was slightly surprised the masked ninja wanted it outright. His arch-nemesis' smile was practically glued onto his face. "Your _daughter_ is perfectly fine. I only sent you that bird to put my seal on the back of your shoulder in hopes your two jutsu would collide."

"BASTARD!" The masked man exclaimed. "You TRICKY little DEMON! First a seal on my ass—" Minato looked away, "Then a seal on my _shoulder!_ What am I, a walking BILLBOARD?"

His arch-nemesis chuckled. "It was the only way."

Minato's eyes narrowed, "How do we reverse it?"

"The seal I put on your shoulder is one of a kind. You might say…it's all about the timing…" he smiled, turning to tinker with a sort of simple contraption. "I'm afraid it would be very hard to replicate. You need the anti-seal. I did not make one."

"You always make a back-up," Trippy declared boldly. "Where is it? In the dog? Under your clothes?"

The man mused. "Perhaps it is on your ass!"

"GAAAAHHHH!" Trippy shouted. "BASTARD!"

"Why us?" asked Minato suddenly. "What makes our jutsu…able to do this?"

"Fantastic question mister hokage," Minato suddenly knew where Trippy got his lack of respect for authority from. "Since you asked, I will answer. Your jutsu has the power to cover long distances. Time itself is…a very long distance so to speak. It is everywhere. The younger we are, the longer it seems to go. The older we get, well, it flies right on by. To be perfectly honest, I wasn't sure it would even work, but I needed to know. So. I placed a seal of time on you," Trippy growled, "To catch it. To distort it. And lo! It worked! I have disrupted the timeline. But my work is not complete yet. I did not get the harmonics correct. You must continue with your jutsu until the correct people are back with me."

"What if they never come back to you?" Minato objected, "What if you were really destined to live alone? What if—"

"What IF they could come BACK." The man glared.

"What if they weren't _meant_ to," argued Minato. "There's nothing wrong with waiting for them in the afterlife."

"They will live with me _NOW!"_ he shouted.

"No, they won't," enforced Trippy. "You cannot _bend_ time to satisfy your happiness, it's wrong!"

The man turned away. "Stop this madness!" said Trippy. "Stop it right now!"

"Not in your life," replied the older man. Trippy charged at him, and all of a sudden froze for a moment in the middle of the room. He broke free, his arch nemesis dodged while some of his supplies fell off the counter with the force of Trippy banging into them angrily after the genjutsu spell, Minato was quick to have the man cornered, for he could have escaped under the stairs. His small contraption in hand, Minato saw him bang the top of it, and then all of a sudden, things got a little grey.

"…Where did he go…?"

It was an empty basement.

"He didn't _go_ anywhere," said Trippy. "_We're_ the ones that have gone, look at the room—there is no blue seal. He sent us to the other timeline—or _another_ one at least."

"What…!" Minato looked, and all the blue and white seals were gone.

"We'll have to use our jutsu again to return."

"But he said that would continue degrading the timeline."

"Exactly," said Trippy unenthusiastically. "But I don't see any other way."

.


	38. White 12

_White_

12.

"What's wrong with him?" she asked the doctor readily. "What's wrong?"

"I am so sorry, but the scan showed it clearly…" He looked at a picture again. "He has…cancer."

Mikoto gaped. "WHAT?"

The doctor's head lowered, "I'm so sorry, I don't know how we could have missed it," he said, perhaps wanting to say 'you' instead of 'we'. Itachi was fast asleep now from the medicine. "It's in the last stage," he explained. "The most deadly form."

Mikoto was not sure exactly where she was or why this was happening all of a sudden, "Fugaku…" she murmured, "Where is my husband…"

.

Sighing heavily as he exited the building, he was nearly run into by several Uchiha, all talking at once, "Oh, sir!" they said. "The hokage is in danger!"

"Huh?" Fugaku looked at them.

"Yeah! In the crystal ball, weird stuff is happening!" said another.

"Slow down, what sort of weird stuff?"

"Sandaime-sama! It's a different Sandaime-sama!"

"What the hell are you three talking about?"

"He saw in the crystal ball, Minato's jutsu failed!"

"But Minato is with his team, near Kannabi."

"No he's not! He's with this weird masked ninja!"

Fugaku stared at them as if they were talking about a weird graphic novella.

"It's true! Danzou saw it!"

"Lady Koharu, too!"

"All right, all right, so what's the problem?"

"Minato's jutsu went all wrong! The theory is, the time is wrong!"

"The time?"

"Yes! The time!"

Fugaku brushed passed them, annoyed by their incessant indefinable talk.

"Oh, and sir, sir! They found Tsunade-sama, Jiraiya had knocked her out cold before they got very far!"

"…What are you talking about _now?"_ demanded Fugaku.

The three looked at each other, petrified all of a sudden.

"What?" said Fugaku.

Finally one of them spoke, "How's your son?"

"…Absolutely fine…What the hell are you three playing at?"

The three backed off slowly.

"Come back here…" Fugaku threatened, "What have you done to MY SON?"

.

Tsunade wondered what Jiraiya's problem was. She became very worried. She decided to follow him. Luckily he was in such a rave he left the obvious trail. "Shizune, go back to the village," she had instructed, "Find out what the hell is going on."

"Yes ma'am."

.

Orochimaru was still a little confused.

.

Meanwhile, Orochimaru had awaken near the Land of Waves.

"How strange."

.


	39. White 13

_White_

13.

She always felt very lonely, and very incomplete when he wasn't around. Luckily, all she had to do was to step outside, feel the warm sunshine, and take a walk downtown to be near people she knew and recognized. With her husband in the thick of his mission, Kushina wandered far. For she was very lonely this afternoon.

She went into a bookstore and looked at the picture books, "Ha ha," she giggled at one of them that always made her laugh. She sat there and read until she noticed a little girl watching her quite shyly from the corner. "Oh hello," smiled Kushina, looking at the girl warmly, "Would you like to read this one with me?"

The little girl came forward.

Kushina read the book to her, and animated all the exciting parts, making them both feel really good. After the story ended, Kushina helped her pick out some more good reads and then Kushina said goodbye and left, feeling better.

She decided then she'd buy some flowers for herself before she went home to find something to concoct in the kitchen (for they always were delightful 'concoctions' only Minato could seem to stomach). She walked into the flower shop and walked out with a bunch of bright red flowers.

Walking down the street on the south side (taking the long way), she saw someone from behind that made Kushina look twice. At first she thought it was Uchiha Mikoto. "Mi…koto-san…?"

The woman turned; it was not Mikoto.

Kushina dropped her smile, and her flowers.

.


	40. Black 18

_Black_

18.

Kakashi was walking home. He didn't want to of course. He_ never_ wanted to. But he had no money on him, and dinner was expensive in the village. "Mom…?" he said after he got inside. "…Mom?" He looked all over the house—he looked in the basement. He checked outside. Finally he poked his head around the door—only Sakumo was there, in their room, lying down, asleep. "…Mom…?" Kakashi checked again for any cleverly hidden notes even though she never used to hide them cleverly before. There was no note. No nothing. It was as if she had simply disappeared.

He bit his lip. "…Dad?" he finally asked. "Dad…where's mom?"

Kakashi had to wake him physically, "I can't find mom—where did she go?"

Sakumo shook his head slightly. "…She's not in the house?"

"No," said Kakashi derisively. "I looked all over—did she say she was going out for something?"

"No," said Sakumo.

"Maybe…I'll check town…"

"Kakashi, wait…"

Since it was right there near the bedroom, Kakashi stepped out the front door—he froze in place for a moment, watching some travelers coming down the lane. These travelers, even from far away, looked like shinobi. The person in front stopped. They stopped as if they didn't quite know what they were looking at. Then all of a sudden, she was running up to the Hatake household—Kakashi drew a kunai just in time and blocked her advance, _"You!"_ she said in surprise.

Sakumo recognized the voice. So, already standing (quite shakily) he stepped outside, poking his head out the door.

Bad idea.

Chiyo screamed. _**"YOU!"**_

She instantly managed to knock Kakashi off balance, and she went for the taller, more haggard looking version. She began screaming the most vile obscenities at him, beating him up very easily. Stabbing him and hitting him repeatedly. Kakashi managed to get back up and looked on in horror—"STOP IT!" he said, but his father had little defense in his current state—before Kakashi could intervene, Chiyo had backed off on her own, her traveling companions each looking on in a mixture of confusion and shock.

"SO, THE REPORTS OF YOUR DEATH WERE GREATLY EXAGGERATED!" she bellowed, her eyes as wide as a wild animals' watching her injured prey and every little injured move he made.

Kakashi reached his father's side—he was bleeding and bruised on the porch deck. Kakashi turned, watching her with horror, anger, and confusion. He was unsure what to. "Chiyo…" he heard one of the men say to her, barely above a trembling whisper, "How…does he live…?"

"BECAUSE KONOHA COVERED IT UP. JUST LIKE THEY DO WITH SO MANY OTHER THINGS!" she stated. "I KNEW I SENSED SOMETHING STRANGE IN THESE BONES! I'M SO GLAD WE CAME DOWN THIS WAY, AREN'T YOU?"

Sakumo looked up, staggering on one elbow, much to his son's surprise, "I was never dead…" he managed to say. "_Almost_, but you…"

"SO I SEE, NOW YOU WILL PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID YOU SON OF A—"

"You saved my life, only a few days ago …"

Chiyo hesitated. Then she began screaming again, "I WOULD NEVER SAVE YOUR PATHETIC SCOURGE OF A LIFE YOU SON OF A…!"

Kakashi raised his kunai just as she lunged—her rage building she was too quick and too strong—she knocked him right, knocking him half through the railing. _"Kakashi!" _Sakumo had nothing to defend with so he grabbed her hands just as they and the sharp blade were bearing weight down upon him. "Chiyo, what are you doing?" asked Sakumo.

"I AM GOING TO _KILL_ YOU," she said. His grip faltered, and the blade pulled out of his shoulder before she aimed again, "YOU _KILLED_ MY _SON_."

"I…" Sakumo had to focus on either disarming her or getting himself and his son the hell out of the way. He chose the latter since he had little strength to draw upon. "I never killed your son," he said dodging, "What are you talking about?" He dodged again, with help from the railing on the opposite end as Chiyo waved the blade at him two times a second like an axe chasing a slow moving log. "Chiyo, stop, please," Sakumo did not know what had gotten into her. "Chiyo, please…"

"I DO NOT RESPOND TO MERCY."

Sakumo was hit again, but he was able to weave out of the rail at the last moment no better than a genin as the blade struck air. But his balance deserted him and he fell onto the ground, "GET HIM!" Chiyo shrieked before she jumped over the rails. But her companions had not yet shed their both skeptical and shocked expressions. First Jiraiya, in Konohagakure prison garb, now Sakumo Hatake…alive?

Fighting every muscle and every hit, Sakumo rolled, noticing the other two had not moved when she had asked them too. Chiyo had him cornered. She was in front, and the other two were still at the steps. Sakumo really had nowhere to go. "Chiyo…I don't know what's happened," said Sakumo calmly, "But whatever you think I've done, I haven't—you saved my life two days ago."

Chiyo's eyes never left him, "How could I do such a vile thing."

"You were in the village, for a meeting," he said, clutching his abdomen, "With Lady Tsunade and Dan. You were…You were on your way out when they…found me. You saved my life."

"…LIES!"

"Sister, something might be amiss here…"

"DAMN STRAIGHT! IT'S HIM!" she pointed at the white fang, "IT'S HIM, IT'S HIM!" She lunged—Kakashi suddenly put himself between her and his father—"Kakashi!" The blades screamed—Kakashi was holding his own until she spun around and headed straight for Sakumo. He was ready for her—he deflected her kunai upward—"DAD!" But missed the little one she pulled from her waist. "DAD!"

Sakumo fell down on the ground—Kakashi ran to him, and then retaliated, but Chiyo again knocked him aside. "Chiyo…" said her brother. She gripped the hilt, watching Sakumo die.

"Chiyo..."

"Not until I see him die." she said.

"Dad…!" Kakashi could not ignore the injury. But being no medic, there was not much he could do. "Dad, dad!"

Kakashi screamed at her, cursing. "Why did you do this!" he shouted. "Suna and Konoha are allies!"

Chiyo laughed. "Hah! Allies!"

_**"WHY!"**_ Kakashi bellowed.

"This isn't right," said Chiyo's brother. "Sister, there's something wrong…"

"Terribly wrong! If Konoha's been hiding the fact he's been _alive_ these past five _years!_"

"Five…years…?" Sakumo murmured through a weary haze.

"Dad!"

"In that mission! Perhaps you wiped it from your memory in hopes of erasing the _shame!_ It was the _shame_ that forced you to take your life!" said Chiyo. "Don't pretend," she glowered. "Konoha no Shiroi Kiba, Konohagakure's pride and joy and until_ you_ screwed it up! Until_ you_ failed a _mission!"_ she grinned.

"…Failed…?" Sakumo whispered the word in disbelief.

"You saved your teammates instead of carrying out the mission," said Chiyo. "You were a dashed man then and there. The enemy ninja advanced and took with them many lives. You were _shamed_."

"…_Shame_…?"

"Chiyo…" said her brother, "We should leave…"

"But we just _got_ to the good _parts_," she smiled wickedly.

Kakashi bit his lip desperately, not knowing what else to do—"Summoning jutsu!" Pakkun and the gang appeared.

Chiyo laughed—she looked at her brother though, who wasn't laughing. "Brother…"

He was looking at a very enraged Danzou.

Chiyo turned, and lost the smile herself.

"As one of the sannin, you _will_ back away." He said in a low and menacing tone, raising a kunai experience told them he knew how to use.

"…San…nin…?" Chiyo said suddenly, confused, and then she looked back at Sakumo in shock, "What the _hell_ is going on here…?"

But she did not get an answer to the question as Danzou disarmed and knocked her out. "Anybody else got a problem?"

"…Dad!"

Danzou knelt down, noticing the large puddle of blood before the wound itself. "Leave! Get out of here!" he shouted at the sand ninja. "Come on, we'll get your father to the hospital."

.


	41. White 14

_White_

14.

"Fugaku!"

"Some crazy shit is going on out there Mikoto, are you all right?"

"No, no, it's Itachi!"

"Oh my God—What's happened to him?"

"He's…He's…" she sobbed on his chest.

Fugaku held her tightly in the lobby, anxiously awaiting the news.

"He's…" Mikoto looked up just as Danzou was coming inside, carrying Sakumo with Kakashi beside him. "…He's…_alive_…?"

Fugaku turned around and his eyes widened—"What the name of God is going on here," he said aloud.

.


	42. Getting More Grey

_Getting More Grey_

"I feel so terrible," said Minato.

"I know, but we've got to do it once more. He's not there."

"Again?"

"Listen, the next time we see him, destroy that little box. It probably doesn't have very big batteries, so it won't last long on him. And whatever you do, I don't think we should apply chakra to those seals on him and his house. I think that's what he's been activating to send us outside. Outside of time that is."

"Right."

"Ready?"

"Yes."

"1…2…3…FLYING DRAGON JUTSU!"

"FLYING THUNDERGOD JUTSU!"

…

"Did it work?"

"YES! HE'S IN THERE!"

"Great!"

The two dashed inside, "You two!" cried the ninja. "Go away!" he banged his box.

He disappeared.

"**DAMMIT**!" The two said in unison.

.


	43. Really Grey 1

_Really Grey_

1.

"Kushina-san, are you all right?" asked Mrs Hatake.

Kushina's mouth dropped open, but she wasn't capable of any speech just then. How kind would it be to utter, "You're _supposed_ to be _dead"?_

Kushina staggered backward clumsily, not wishing to appear perturbed, but it was kind of hard to. "Mrs Hatake…?"

"Yes… You look like you've seen a ghost, are you all right?"

"Yes…" Kushina squeaked.

She came closer, "What's wrong? You look so pale. I'm so sorry I made you drop your flowers," she picked them up at her feet, "I feel so awful I scared you—are you sure you're all right?"

"No…maybe…maybe I should go…to the the hospital…"

"Want me to go with you?"

Kushina mumbled.

Sakumo's wife held her on the shoulder for comfort, worried Kushina was ill.

The two continued walking.

.

Dan raced inside—Danzou set the man down on a couch in the lobby—"Oh my God," said Dan, and immediately put pressure and chakra on the wound. Danzou hung his head, "If I'd only gotten there sooner and told you..."

"TOLD HIM WHAT?" Fugaku roared. "THAT HE'S SUPPOSED TO BE _DEAD?"_

Kakashi felt the chills—"SHUT UP!" he shouted abruptly—first Chiyo, now _Fugaku?_ Kakashi trembled uneasily—his hand pulled out his kunai, giving the Uchiha man a threatening look.

"ALL RIGHT CALM DOWN!" said Danzou while Dan was healing Sakumo, who was paying attention to the conversation too. All of the medic nin and patients were paying attention now. "WHAT'S HAPPENED HERE IS VERY SIMPLE," Danzou kept his voice high so everyone could hear him. "MINATO'S JUTSU…THERE WAS A PROBLEM. We have seen him in the crystal ball with another ninja. Apparently something has HAPPENED to DISTORT our frame of time," he worded carefully. "People and places are no longer…_normal_."

"What in the hell utter nonsense** is** this?" Fugaku demanded. "A trick?"

"It is NO trick," said Danzou, " I can ASSURE you. When Minato was en route to rendezvous with the leaf ninja, something happened to him that is connected to our current situation."

"There's a lie right there! Minato left with his _students!"_

Danzou momentarily fumbled. "In your version of events, then yes."

Fugaku shook his head. "Infiltrators."

Dan suddenly spoke loudly, "SHUT UP. ALL OF YOU. REALLY."

Kakashi looked to his father while Dan yelled again, "Medics, I need a rolling bed and a room, NOW."

This occurred.

"Besides…" murmured Fugaku to his wife, "He's supposed to be dead _too_…"

Dan helped lift Sakumo and from there, hurried off to a room. At first Kakashi followed, then he was tempted to stay for the chaos. "Go," said Danzou, noticing his hesitation. Kakashi nodded reluctantly, putting away the kunai, and followed the medic nin, casting a weary look at the Uchiha couple as he raced on.

"Please. Fugaku. Come with me. I will show you to the Hokage tower."

"Is that where you're keeping the prisoners?"

"Fugaku," said Mikoto, "Go with him. Don't make a scene," she whispered.

"Why not? This is a security problem."

"I'm not sure," said a new voice. It was Kushina, walking in with Sakumo's deceased wife.

Mikoto gasped.

Sakumo's wife was beginning to feel very strange.

"Something's dreadfully wrong."

"Lady Kushina," said Danzou respectfully.

"_Dreadfully_ wrong," Kushina emphasized, never being so respected like that by Danzou before.

"Please, if you'll only come with me, Fugaku-san too. The crystal ball is showing scenes of Minato briefly."

"Minato?"

"Yes, his jutsu…something went wrong."

"Is he hurt?"

"No…I believe he's working…to fix this problem," Danzou gestured.

"What problem is that?" said Mrs Hatake, in the dark, so to speak.

"Um…"

"Why don't we all go then," said Fugaku, glaring at Danzou's back.

"Yes. Let's," said Kushina, agreeing.

"Oh…Mrs Hatake…" said Danzou regretfully, "…you may want to stay behind—your husband was just brought in."

She straightened like a board.

"That way," Mikoto pointed.

"Thank you," said the ghost.

.


	44. Really Grey 2

_Really Grey_

2.

"Jiraiya! Wait!"

"…What?"

"Jiraiya!"

"Tsunade!"

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah, wow. Nice seeing you."

Now Tsunade was bitching confused. One minute, Jiraiya was in a stolen brown robe, and the next he was in his usual green and red attire, no longer screaming at her. "Nice? _Nice_ to see _me?_"

"Yeah…why wouldn't it be nice to see you? I was just tracking some thugs up north," her jerked his finger conversationally.

"A few minutes ago, you were shouting at me!"

"…No I wasn't…I haven't seen you since I…"

"Okay, okay, I'm just going to wait for Shizune to come back to find out what in the hell of hells is going on here. Are you telling me you weren't running through the forest just now in a brown robe screaming at me that I broke you out of prison?"

"Um…no…Tsunade…Are you drunk…?"

She threw up her hands. Tsunade sat down on a tree stump, trying to make sense of what was going on. A genjutsu? No. A massive kink in space time? Possibly. A _new_ kind of genjutsu? Possibly. She swore. "Crazy."

"Do you…Can I wait with you?"

"…Sure. Why not."

"I'm sorry I screamed at you."

"Oh my gosh you were annoying. You had been in prison."

"For what?"

"I'm not exactly sure. But I had broken you out apparently."

"Aww…"

Tsunade jabbed him hard in the ribs.

Jiraiya smiled a little, through the pain. "This…this 'other' me…What was he like?"

"Obnoxious. Just like you."

"Oh."

"I don't know what's going on."

"Yeah. This is most definitely weird if you're most definitely not high on something."

"JIRAIYA!" Tsunade boomed, jabbing him again. "I'm telling you the honest to God truth!"

"Okay, yes, I do believe you. I'm just saying…if things are screwed up…What else is? What if Shizune…doesn't come back?"

Tsunade stood up. She had not contemplated that idea. "Yeah. How about we go ourselves, and see what's going on."

Jiraiya stood up and followed her.

.

"You!" cried Chiyo, "What's going on?"

Shizune stopped—"I…I don't know…"

Chiyo (who had been on her way out of Konohagakure after the meeting when she felt strange-goings on and witnessed a mysterious masked man fallen from the sky) said, "You're from the leaf, aren't you? I thought I recognized you—you're one of Tsunade's disciples."

"…Yes…" Shizune said cautiously, unsure whether to trust the Suna woman. She was Chiyo after all. "Nothing's going on?" Chiyo asked curiously, "Nothing at all?"

"I don't know," Shizune said again.

"It's like talking to trees," Chiyo smiled at her traveling companions. "Well then. We'll find out when we get there. To where are you going? Back to the village?"

"I'm…not…sure…if you can come with me," replied Shizune with a weary look in her eyes.

"Of course we can! We were just _there!"_

Shizune blinked. "…What…?"

"A meeting, with Tsunade!"

"Liars!" Shizune jumped backward and began launching an attack.

"Unfriendly!" Chiyo defended herself, as well as her companions.

Shizune was losing very quickly, but to her luck, Tsunade and Jiraiya appeared on the scene, "Tsunade! Tell your apprentice here she's being rude!"

"I can't say she's _not_," said Tsunade with a growl under her tongue, "What the hell are _you_ doing in Konoha!"

"ME? ME? I was coming back from a meeting with you and your precious klutz of a husband!"

"My…My…husband…?" Tsunade froze in utter fear. Jiraiya's skin prickled:

Chiyo opened her eyes. Looking at the leaf shinobi, and then back at her brother and guard. "Your husband, Dan."

Tsunade's eyes became a window of fury. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? DAN IS…IS…DEAD!"

Chiyo lowered her weapons. "Oh dear…Oh my…" Tsunade suddenly lunged at her rival from Sand, "What in the HELL are you talking about!" she gripped the other woman's clothes so hard Chiyo heard the threads popping.

"Lady Tsunade, stop this," said Chiyo's brother. "There has been a misunderstanding."

"Tsunade …" Jiraiya said to her, which finally snapped Tsunade out of her homicidal rage—"Obviously something is_ terribly_ wrong," Tsunade agreed through her teeth. "We're ALL going to Konohagakure to see what the hell is going on."

Chiyo tried to remain calm, "After you," she egged Tsunade on with a weird smile. Tsunade let go with a shaken snap and she huffed, taking the lead.

All of them struggled to keep up, especially Shizune.

.


	45. Really Grey 3

_Really Grey_

3.

Homura wondered at what point it was when he got old.

Being a bit of a bachelor for so long, nobody really reminded him how old he was getting. He hated the word now. Old. The _world_ was old. The invention of the wheel,_ that_ was old. Rikudou Senin was old. But him? Homura? Homura was not old. Not by any stretch of the imagination. The painful stretching of a back muscle however was an entirely different story. Homura was about to growl aloud when he noticed something—someone from the corner of his eye. It was not quite the enemy he had been after, but the man was something worth noting, especially when he was talking to himself passing under through the forest:

"Okay. I was west of here just yesterday night. Now how in blazes could I have woken up here, near the land of waves?"

Homura suddenly thought of one thing.

The crystal ball.

.

"It's been acting like this for days. Probably ever since Minato disappeared."

"What do you mean he disappeared?" Kushina asked.

"When he left…in our timeframe, using Hiraishin to meet up with the leaf ninja," said Danzou very calmly.

Kushina's eyes flared. "He _didn't…!"_

"Kushina," said Sarutobi, who was there too, "I realize your confusion. He didn't use Hiraishin to get there in my timeline either. He was going with his students."

_"…Exactly!"_

Fugaku's arms were folded. "I'm still not sure I believe any of this. And I don't see how we're paying attention to that_ thing_," He gestured rudely to the ball on the cushion. Colors were spinning inside of it rapidly.

"Because," said Sarutobi, "It has been showing us Minato intermittently. By learning what he's doing may enable us possibly in helping him."

Kushina moved closer, "Has he been seen…?" she asked softly.

"Ten minutes ago Koharu noticed him using his jutsu again. They were near some house—we're trying to figure out where."

Kushina frowned. "…Then where's his students?" she asked all of a sudden. "I told Minato to take care of them…"

"…It's possible…" Sarutobi began uneasily, "And in fact there must be_ two_ Minatos…"

"…What…?" Kushina stared at him in disbelief.

"The…Danzou's Minato used Hiraishin, and we're guessing that's when it started. Our Minato is continuing the mission."

"What…?" Kushina uttered again, "But that's crazy! Next you're going to say there are two…me…" She stopped there, realizing what was happening.

"…My son," said Fugaku suddenly, "My son, too?"

Solemnly, Sarutobi nodded. "Frankly, the Danzou in _my_ time was never this friendly to me…"

The Danzou who was there smiled, "I'm flattered."

"Yeah," supplied Kushina. "Our Danzou wasn't like you either."

"My, what an ass I must be!" Danzou smiled awkwardly.

Sarutobi coughed out a grim chuckle.

Kushina covered a grin.

"But how is this possible?" said Fugaku.

"Personally," said Danzou, "I have no honest to God idea."

"Then how do we resolve it?" said Kushina.

"Personally," said Sarutobi, "I'm not quite sure."

"Then what are we doing standing here?" said Kushina, "Should we go on patrol and tell people not to freak out when they see a dead person walking around? Or see a double of themselves? How are we going to deal with this? It's not doing any good with you, Sandaime, hauled up in here. How 'bout I watch the ball for a while? It seems you could do more good outside, even if you aren't…from Danzou's…world…" she worded strangely.

"…Fine…"

Kushina looked at his unnatural reserve with some curiosity, "…Sandaime-sama?"

"No, I should be out there. Danzou and I both, telling people what's going on."

Kushina nodded. "…Want to stay?" she asked Fugaku.

"Perhaps I'd best see my wife…and son…"

With that, the men left, leaving Kushina alone with only the Hokage tower aids. "Minato…my Minato…" she murmured. "What's going on with you?" She said, watching the universe inside the ball spin, flip, and collide with shapes and shadows of all colors.

.

"I'm going back to the hospital," said Fugaku, eyeing them both in suspicion. "Sakumo's wife is alive…sort of…And so is Dan."

Sarutobi held his breath. It had been a long time since he had asked this question: "Is Sakumo here?"

Fugaku nodded, jerking his head to Danzou, "He just carried him in to the hospital, badly wounded. His boy came in too."

"Kakashi!"

Fugaku nodded.

Sarutobi stood still.

Fugaku left. Danzou turned toward his old teammate. "So…let me guess…Sakumo…passed on? In your timeframe?"

"Ye gods yes. It was five years ago. He committed suicide after a…a…a mission."

"…Oh," said Danzou. "Well. He's clinging onto life after being beaten by Chiyo."

"…Chiyo? Chiyo of the sand beat up Hatake Sakumo?" Sarutobi stared in utter disbelief.

"Yeah well, he was fighting with a handicap."

"…What is that?"

"Sakumo tried to commit suicide only a few days ago."

"…Oh. Did he come back from a mission?"

"No."

Sarutobi looked at him. "Then what for?"

"…Who knows. Where should we go?"

"Well, let's go down main street then head over there. Toward the hospital."

"If you wish me to go back there instead Sarutobi—"

"No, no…I think I could. Dan is alive too?"

Danzou nodded.

"Ah my. Where is Tsunade?"

Danzou thought a moment. "She's at the hospital."

"Oh my. How will I break it to her?"

"I mean, OUR Tsunade is at the hospital. She just tried to break Jiraiya out."

"Jiraiya? Out?"

"…Of prison…it's a long story. Tsunade was going to run away with him, but Jiraiya knocked her out cold."

"…Oh."

"…This is all very awkward."

"No shit…" Danzou chuckled.

.


	46. Really Grey 4

_Really Grey_

4.

Jiraiya held Shizune up with her arm over his shoulder, "Um, I'm going to take her to the hospital."

Tsunade seemed to hear him, "Fine…Fine…" until she looked behind her and registered Shizune, who was both winded and hurt from her spar with Chiyo. "I'll take her." said Tsunade, taking Shizune from Jiraiya. "Want some help…?" Tsunade did not respond, instead hurrying off in the direction.

Jiraiya scratched his head for a minute. She's betting Dan could be there… he thought to himself. "That must be it…" He followed Tsunade.

"Hey…" Chiyo's voice fell flat. "Oh I know," she said.

"What?" said her brother.

"She's counting on _Dan_ being there."

So they all followed Tsunade.

.

Tsunade could have healed Shizune on the spot. Instead, she took the young woman inside, laying her on the couch in the lobby where Sakumo had been but moments ago. In fact, the blood still remained. The blonde-haired woman called over some medics who were abashed to see her, but ready to heal the young black-haired apprentice. "…Dan?" Tsunade murmured timidly to one of them. She pointed in a nearby room.

Jiraiya followed in her shadow.

Tsunade looked inside. All color drained from her face when she saw Dan, alive and well, looking after his newest patient. "Daaann…" Tsunade murmured, tears in her eyes, not even paying attention to Sakumo.

Dan looked up, freezing for a second. He looked at her for a while, noticing beyond her face, her clothes, her new hair style, her new eye shadow…it wasn't his Tsunade, but that didn't matter anyway. She only had eyes for Jiraiya…who stood behind her now. Dan looked back down, patching the wound on Sakumo's shoulder.

"Dan…" she murmured again.

Chiyo suddenly poked her head between Tsunade's side and the doorframe—Kakashi screamed, "GET OUT OF HERE!" Kakashi drew a kunai and threw it at her feet, intending to miss. Chiyo jumped back, "What the hell!" she said in surprise, not retreating just yet.

"Get out!" Kakashi took a shuriken, but Chiyo's brother deflected it. "I suggest you cool it," he said.

"Why does everybody want to attack me all of a sudden! I'm just a harmless little sand shrew!"

Kakashi glared at her. "Get away from here! Don't you dare come NEAR US!"

"Oh shut up kid, we're all kinda screwed," said Jiraiya coolly.

"WHO ARE YOU to tell ME this is SCREWED! You ESCAPED from PRISON."

"So I've been told…" Jiraiya admired.

The atmosphere was not exactly conducive toward healing, Dan was growing weary. "Would you all please carry on _outside_. Seriously."

"What exactly did I do?" Jiraiya had to ask.

Dan looked at him with a sharp glare in his dark eyes and daggers in his measured voice, "You tried to kill me. Then you came back because you wanted to see him for some strange reason," he nodded at Sakumo, "And then my wife broke you out of jail and would have gone with you had you not prevented her from doing so."

Tsunade braced her thigh with a hand, as if something was pulling her shoulders downward. "Get out," Dan's voice said again unrelenting. "Each of you."

Kakashi suddenly ran out, as teenagers do. He stood in the lobby in a dark corner by himself, weighing the new parameters of his universe heavily. His confused mother (torn between the two Hatake men) followed him. Chiyo pursed the lines of her mouth. Jiraiya shut his. Tsunade slumped, and then she found the outside wall and leaned against it, a strange look on her face. Jiraiya reached out, and put a hand on her shoulder.

The hand weighed her down further, until she slumped halfway, she turned back, stumbling up, "Oh Dan…" she said, tears running down her face, "Dan…I…"

Dan looked at her, stopping what he was doing.

"Dan…" she murmured again, "Oh Dan, my love…" she burst out into a sob—Tsunade recoiled inside herself.

Jiraiya took a few steps backward.

"I thought I had problems," said Chiyo.

In another timeline, what she said might have been funny but Jiraiya couldn't laugh. Not at this moment in time.

.


	47. Really Grey 5

_Really Grey_

5.

"GET THE BOX!"

Minato got it.

"HA HA HA! IN YOUR FACE ARCH-NEMESIS!"

Luckily, he had a smoke bomb.

"GAAAHHHH!"

"I STILL HAVE IT," cried Minato.

"DON'T DESTROY IT."

"Gaahhh!"

Trippy couldn't see a darn thing. "What…?"

The smoke finally began to clear, and there was Minato, alone with the box.

"Where did he…? ABOVE!" Luckily, Minato ducked just in time. Trippy jumped, flying upwards, taking a kunai in his right shoulder, "Minato, RUN!"

"But you!" Minato stepped backwards, the ninja was advancing on him. Holding an awkward box in his hands, Minato drew four shuriken from a holster. He didn't throw them just yet. "Give me the box."

"…No. Get your own box," said Minato.

"Fool that IS my box."

"Finders keepers." Minato was searching through his list of plans. He noticed Trippy slowly getting up.

"Fool, you TOOK it from me!"

"Well you took away the glue holding all the timelines apart. I'd say we're even…" Minato noticed the fan and light fixture up above.

"Grrrr…" The man growled, "Give…it…BACK!"

"Not a chance." Minato threw two kunai at his feet, and two at the ceiling fan. It fell on Trippy's arch-nemesis, straight on his back, knocking him down. Minato quickly ran over to help Trippy up. "Good thinking," he complimented. The fan was so heavy, the man was struggling just to give a long groan. "Give me the box," said Trippy.

Minato gave it to him, and the masked ninja applied a special kind of chakra to it—disarming it. He issued a fire jutsu, and burned the entire thing. "There. Now as long as we can stay in_ this_ timeline, he won't have the box."

Trippy walked around to face his rival, on the floor. "Now. HOW do we REVERSE this."

The man chuckled.

Trippy growled. He began removing the fan off his back. "We need him alive," Trippy explained. "At least he can't go anywhere just yet."

Minato stood around, blocking the front door.

"So now my arch-nemesis. You said you put a seal on my shoulder."

"Yes."

"Well! What is the counter seal?"

Minato asked a dumb question: "If we have the counter seal, does that mean we can use our jutsu and undo all this?"

"…I think so," said Trippy hesitantly—his rival was grinning on the floor. "No?"

The man chuckled again, and then he moaned trying to peel himself up off the floor, looking at his beloved fan beside him with a broken brown paddle. Minato admired his resilience. But his continual blue smile was rather unnerving. "I bought that fan when we moved in." he remarked softly. Doggy-chan remained in the far corner, half-asleep to all this noise and clamor.

"Minato," Trippy announced. "That seal is gone off my shoulder, right?"

"Um…" The ninja turned for a moment while Minato inspected him. "Yes. It is. Gone."

"Great. You thought of everything, didn't you?"

"Not quite." He was now in an awkward (and uncomfortable) sitting position, his left hand clutching his lower back.

"Minato. Stay here and guard him. I'm going to go downstairs and see what I can find."

The hokage nodded, "Right."

"And whatever you do, do not let him talk you into something. Not even something to help his back, got it?"

"Yes."

" I mean it. He's tricky." At this, the two ninja saw a blue little smile.

Trippy seemed to roll his eyes before he headed downstairs. "And don't touch anything."

"Frustrated young man," His arch-nemesis observed, taking great pains to stretch his torso.

Minato sealed his lip (figuratively).

"So are you. What a bunch of impatient young men running around," said the blue-toothed man. "You'd think you were all late for something."

It was difficult, too, to remain silent. Minato never felt such a compelling urge to respond to this lonely, twisted older man. So Minato glanced around the room quickly, keeping the man within sight, ready in a moment's notice to tie him up or otherwise keep him detained. "Your loss," the man said lightly, stretching his muscles back and forth. "I so liked that fan."

Again Minato fought down speech. Doggy-chan had nothing to contribute either. Poor dog.

The older man looked up at the handsome young figure with the blonde hair. "So many things to do…so many places to see…" the old man said. "So many people, forgotten."

"You hate it when people talk to you," said Minato. "You get all angry."

"I do…? Oh did_ he_ say that?" he pointed downstairs. "Of course. I do hate people."

"Then why do you want your family back? You must have_ hated_ them!"

The man shook his head. "No. I loved _them_."

Minato eyed him strangely.

"How far would you go to bring back the ones _you_ love?"

A difficult question. Trippy had said not to answer. Minato turned his chin.

"Ah. If there had been an easier way, I would have found it by now. But no. This is the only way."

Minato raised an eyebrow.

"What! I do not lie! I am an honest man."

Minato shook his head. Then he noticed something in the big hole in the ceiling, it was only for a moment, so he looked away, as to not raise suspicion, but he could have sworn he saw a red seal wrapped around the electrical wire. Red seals usually meant one thing: explosions the moment chakra activated them. Not a good thing in a house already taped up with blue and white seals. _What did that mean?_ Minato wondered. Catching a look at the old man, he was still stretching a bit, and grinning.

The masked ninja came back up the stairs, and into the room, holding a couple small but fat scrolls under each arm. Minato tried to give him a look while the ninja's arch-nemesis turned his head (rather than his back, it was still quite painful), "Ah, I see you found my notebooks."

Trippy seemed to glare, for he said nothing and set them down on the floor, never moving his head away from the man.

Minato and the masked ninja tied him up.

It eased Minato's mind a bit, when he whispered what he saw in Trippy's…mask, while Trippy was opening the seals in front of the front door. The two were sitting on the floor while the older man was continuing to stretch—this time in his ropes, "You made them too tight," he said again. "I can't keep stretching my back out anymore."

"Oh be quiet," said the masked ninja, who pondered this new information and whipsered back quietly, "It may be his last option," Trippy Ninja explained. "You know, when plans A, B, and C fail."

"An…explosion?"

"Yes. With a bunch of time-seals around. It could do it. It could change the time _without_ our jutsu."

"So…we'd be dead."

"Yes. _We'd_ be dead. Alternate versions of us would still be alive though."

"That's creepy."

"Everything he _does_ is creepy."

"So what am I looking at?" Minato looked at the scrolls.

"Actually, I'm not sure. I think it's a formula for this…" Trippy gestured around the house at the blue and white, "…this time…seal," He searched the first scroll further.

"Can you work out an anti-seal…?"

Trippy studied the formula.

The man laughed in the middle of the room.

Minato eyed him.

"I…think…so…"

The man laughed more deeply.

"WHAT," said Trippy. "What are you laughing about?"

"Heehee…nothing…" he said, shaking his head, grinning and chuckling.

The masked ninja suddenly took off his mask.

Minato did not miss it this time.

He was very handsome before he contorted his face to yelling and shouting. Black hair, black eyes. Very kind face and gentle—once you got to know him, "You bastard, I realize it's not easy losing those you love, but it's worse to lose_ yourself_ you cheap fool!" he swore.

The man smiled.

Minato was in awe.

"Had to get that out—and off," he said, scratching his chin, pondering over the complicated seal further. He almost looked as if he was twelve. "What happened to your wife?" said Minato all of sudden, in a quiet tone.

The (formerly) masked ninja looked at him a brief moment. "Six years ago…our time…a trio of sand ninja were chasing a rogue of their own. I…I let her go out that day, not knowing they were in the area. I usually have a pretty keen sense on that kind of thing but she was sick (our daughter) and one of us needed to stay home to watch over her. My wife was caught in the crossfire. I went out looking for her when she didn't come home. I saw the ninja just as they were leaving. Luckily, I didn't _see_ them. Or else I might have really been crazy enough to take revenge. Nowadays, I don't want to know who they were. I fear I might go after them with a terrible vengeance. And you know how jutsu like ours makes it so easy. I'm afraid if I started, I might really wind up crazy…" he finished quietly.

Minato listened to his tale, and agreed. They were alike in more ways than one. "I was shaking mad," he continued, his eyes wanting to look at the old man with his kooky blue smile. "If it wasn't for our daughter, I would not be the man I am today. She's a lot tougher than I am, that's for sure. She's her mother's daughter."

Minato caught a glimpse of the old man: he appeared to be sulking now surrounded by a rather blue funk. Coping and not. Minato stared at the in-between until the scrolls took his attention. "How long do you think it would take you, to start a counter seal?"

"This is really God awful complicated stuff," he said loud enough for the old man to hear, and then he wiped his brow. "I'm not sure I understand some of it..."

"It looks like scribble."

The man chuckled.

Trippy rolled his eyes, it was an amusing sight on his face.

"Well then," Minato took out a blank scroll from his back pocket and opened it, "Let's get going."

Trippy nodded, producing the ink, instantly writing a silly combination of rat rat rat, monkey-rat, monkey.

.


	48. Purple Grey

_Purple Grey _

A little boy was wandering the house. It was empty.

He turned another corner, looking into the bathroom. Sad, and lonely. The tub was empty, the lights were off. The little boy looked across the hall into his parents' room, always so familiar and inviting but today it was desolate, dark, and collecting dust. Out in the living room, the music was turned off, the books were on their shelves, closed up and hibernating. The little boy got scared.

After checking his room and the kitchen one last time, he jettisoned himself out a window, and after the pane fell back down behind him, he circled the house, teetering on tiptoe, looking up and down and all around. "Mommy?" he asked out loud. "Daddy?"

"…Hm?" Hyuuga Hizashi, heir of the main house uttered—"How did you get in there!"

The little boy stared.

"Who…are you?" the Hyuuga said.

The little boy ran.

The little boy continued running, inside the village, by himself. He weaved around, and looked up at all the strange people exclaiming strange things—even jogging, as if they were fleeing from some unseen trouble. But the little boy couldn't see anything. It was a sunny, great day in the village, but after waking from his nap…nobody was home. Nobody.

Instinctively, he made his way to the hospital, for he doubted the persons in the hokage tower would aid him. They probably had enough on their plates. No. His mother knew _lots_ of people in the hospital—surely they would be able to tell him where she had gone.

He walked up the steps and went inside with a tall man who opened the door for him. "Nurse!" the tall man said in an excited tone, "I need help!"

"As you can see, we're kinda busy right now…" she said.

"Yes! Dead people are coming back to life!"

"Yes." She responded matter-of-factly.

The little boy heard this with astonishment. "…What?" he murmured, wondering what that could mean.

"You know?" the man asked in bewilderment superceding his forehead.

"…Yes…" she responded, "Danzou told us."

"Is he dead too?"

She shrugged.

"I just hope there's not two of them," said the man, "Cause three post-men just ran into each other, and…"

The little boy scurried along past the chairs.

"Can I help you…?" noticed another female nurse.

He froze—"Um…" She smiled very friendly, her orange hair glowing at the edges from the indoor yellow light. "…I need my mommy." He told her.

"Okay…what does she look like?"

"Um…" The little boy thought. "She looks like you—only yellow hair."

"What color are her eyes?"

"Brown."

"Does she wear lipstick?"

He nodded.

"Do you know her name?"

"Mommy."

The nurse smiled, "Um, all right."

.


	49. Really Grey 6

_Really Grey_

6.

Jiraiya moved away from the door, and looked at the lobby—Kakashi was still sulking in the corner the purple bruising becoming evident on his face from an alternate Chiyo's rampage, and a little boy was being helped by a nurse. It was the little boy who made Jiraiya look twice. The boy had the most unusual light yellow-honey hair, like pale sand. The boy's eyes were large, like Tsunade's too. He was wearing ordinary clothes. Three or four years old, he was a small thing for his age.

"Uncle Jiraiya?" said the boy suddenly, breaking his hand-holding with the kind nurse—"Uncle Jii!" he smiled, skipping to the giant, "Jiraiya, I can't find my mommy! This lady was helping me."

"Oh my."

The nurse and he exchanged glances—she was smiling, Jiraiya began panicking, "…I'll take over the squeak from here."

"Are you sure?"

He nodded.

"Thank you lady!"

"Bye now!"

"Uncle Jii, where's my mommy? Where's daddy? Why was a Hyuuga man outside my house? Huh? Did something happen?"

Beside the giant sage, Chiyo began to snigger. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Jiraiya spoke to her while keeping his eyes on the tike. "I don't know what you're thinking."

"Surely you're thinking what I'm thinking."

"I don't want to think what you're thinking…"

"Jii, where's mommy? I woke up and she was gone."

The little boy quieted when his uncle wouldn't answer him. The little boy finally heard the crying coming in from the hospital room. He drew closer, trying to discern the noise being made, "Mommy…?"

Dan looked down—

"Daddy! Mommy! There you are!"

"I've got to get out of here," Jiraiya muttered to himself.

Chiyo nodded her head in agreement. "We need to find that masked man, who fell out of the sky. I'm positive he has something to do with all this."

"A masked man?"

Chiyo nodded. "Perhaps we can speak with your Hokage?"

"…Why not," said Jiraiya, wondering what version of his sensei would be waiting. "Let's get this carousel spinning."

Chiyo rubbed her palms together and grinned.

.

Rin was swaying her feet back and forth lazily on a wooden deck over the river inside the village. Her parents told her not to go out with all the chaos going round, but she was curious. People were walking around as if they had explosive seals tagged on their backs, going here, going there, then wondering who the hell had sent them there in the first place and namely, "Where did he go…?"

Rin turned. "…Hm?"

"Kya-kya-shi," said the young black haired boy. He was her age, except he was very muscular and big. "I just saw him a minute ago."

Rin smiled.

"What?"

"There's been a lot of that going around from what I hear," answered Rin. "You're not the first."

"So you just saw Kya-kya-shi too, eh? I was going to challenge him," the man flexed his right arm, "I've gotten stronger."

Rin turned her smile over the water, and then over the village scene in front of her: messy. "I hope Minato-sensei can find some way to get us back to normal," she said, sincerely. Even Rin wasn't sure she wanted to see two different versions of Obito or more in the village. She and Kakashi could barely manage one!

"Rin, right?" asked Maito Gai.

"Yes," she smiled kindly.

"You look really nice," he complimented.

"Thank you," she smiled. Her parents had bought her several new outfits while they were on vacation, and she decided to keep them on in hopes Obito would still recognize her amid the chaos. "So do you."

Might Guy was wearing a yellow jumpsuit and a red bandana across his forehead. Never being complimented before in his life about his appearance, he balked, several words at once coming out of his mouth, "Why-uh—Thank—You—Much—Great—I—Thank—You."

He bowed awkwardly and left her alone, and Rin began to frown. A chill of confusion and fear wrapping around her underneath the bright yellow sun. "Obito…" she murmured, unsure whether she would be able to find him now or not. She viewed more people stopping on the road, gesturing to the other person who always had some sort of baffled expression on his face like no, he didn't do that, or no, he never said that. "I'm scared," she murmured atop her knees, watching villagers she didn't recognize anymore.

.

Obito was dead.

.

Obito was confused. In his part of the Uchiha corner of Konohagakure, pots and pans were being thrown, muffins being hurled, and a volley of words being exchanged underneath tables, rocking chairs, and other pieces of assorted furniture. _Seriously,_ thought Obito,_ they're acting like children!_ Finally, he poked his head up, braving the volley of throwing objects—a figure nearly missed his head, "STOP THIS AT ONCE!" he commanded.

"Obito-kun, shut up!" shouted his aunt.

"Obito-kun, get back down!" shouted his uncle (from the opposite side of the room).

"No," said Obito. "I won't." He outstretched his hands, "You'll stop this at once!"

"Like hell!" rolled his Aunt, performing a minor katon jutsu INSIDE THE HOUSE. Obito ducked—the balls of fire were meant for his uncle and cousin of course—they shot back with water jutsu, dousing the sofa, the carpet, and the kitchen counter—"Not the bread rolls!" moaned Obito looking at the wet basket and the vase of flowers tipped over. "Mom's gonna _flip_…!"

"Obito!" said his cousin, "Sit down or she'll get you!"

"I'm not participating in this over a simple misunderstanding!"

"SO IT IS TRUE!" she shrieked.

"GAHHH!" replied the uncle. "I _THOUGHT_ I _TOLD _YOU. THREE YEARS AGO, AT CHRISTMAS—"

"YOU UNFAITHFUL DEVIL! It was **I** who sold your kaleidoscope collection three years ago, SO THERE!"

Obito suddenly felt a chill, "You WHAT!" His uncle boomed, "YOU TOLD ME IT WAS A FIRE!"

"YEAH, SO EAT THIS!"

Obito fell backward—barely dodging again, a Phoenix fireball jutsu—His uncle performed a water jutsu, and Obito ran for cover underneath the end table of a couch witnessing this interesting scene. "Oh my God…" he murmured. "Something is seriously screwed up."

"AND THIS, AND THIS!"

The two continued fighting across the room. Even with the help of his cousin, Obito's uncle was having a difficult time. "IT WAS ONLY FOR THREE DAYS WOMAN. YOU'D THINK A RIVAL SPORTS TEAM WASN'T AS IMPORTANT AS THIS! I **THOUGHT** YOU **KNEW!"**

Obito shook his head while his aunt shrieked, "I KNEW YOU STILL HAD A THING FOR THE SUNA WIND JACKETS! NOW DIEEE!"

"Oh my God…" said Obito, retreating. He had a feeling the house would be demolished by suppertime. Obito rolled out the front door like he was escaping fire. The protection stone in his pocket rolled with him, having mixed luck so far. He could hear the shouting match from outside—CRASH! "I hope that wasn't my mom's porcelain cat figure—"MEOOOW!" "Oh it was." SMASH! "I hope that wasn't another thing she grabbed from the fridge." "MOOOO!" "Oh yep, there went tonight's dinner." As the roast beef went sliding down the wall.

Obito stuffed his hands in his pockets, and jumped off the deck, shivering slightly. "I wonder how Kakashi's family is doing," he wondered.

.


	50. Really Grey 7

_Really Grey_

7.

Chiyo (who recently beat Sakumo into a pulp) was sitting on the ground, recovered from Danzou's hit, her arms folded over her chest. "Think we should go back?"

"Why?"

"See what's going on."

Her brother frowned through half-shut eyes.

Chiyo's ire was still evident.

"Konohagakure will beat us up," said the guard.

"Konohagakure will beat anybody up."

"Sakumo couldn't fight back—he was already weakened."

"Oh shut up," she snapped. "It wouldn't have mattered to me if he were on death's door asking to get in. I'd still—" she smacked her knuckles in her other palm, "—woulda beat 'im up. He deserved it," she said through her teeth.

.


	51. Red Grey

_Red Grey_

He was walking along the path, toward the village now, after a light disappointment when he noticed three Suna nin in the forest, sitting in a trio. "Th-THAT'S…!" the young man exclaimed. "Oh my gosh! Shoot! I gotta tell the hokage!"

So Maito Gai, in an aquamarine blue jumpsuit and leaf ninja plate around his forehead snuck past them, taking the long way, to warn the village.

.


	52. Really Grey 8

_Really Grey_

8.

Rin grasped the special kunai in her fingers tightly and said, _"MINNATOOOO—!"_

Trippy gasped, "OH HOLY SHIT _NO_ YOU _**DON'T!"**_

Flash.

Trippy's arch-nemeis laughed. "HA HA HA."

"OH _SHUT UP!"_ Trippy stood. "No! No!" he said again, "Hokage! Hokage come back! I can't do this without you!"

…Minato was instantly teleported directly in front of Rin as about fifty Iwa nin were jumping on their position—their being Kakashi and Rin's. Fighting back the urge to ask why, Minato leaped in the air instinctively with several kunai of his own, and protected his students. Kakashi fell over—his chidori attack fizzing out and disappearing—Rin screamed—"Minato-SENSEI!" It was all she had time to do. She wasn't as fast as he was to see an Iwa nin coming from behind—Minato saw it just barely in time and finally got them all, dropping back to the tree limb like a butterfly, "What the hell?"

"…Sensei…" Rin murmured, tears coming to her eyes—she collapsed in a little ball over her knees.

Minato looked around—They were near Kannabi. _The bridge!_ "But _Nawaki_…Why are _you_ guys here…?" That was when Minato finally noticed the special kind of kunai Rin had activated. His seal, Hiraishin, smiled back at him. "God dammit…" murmured Minato, much to his chagrin. "I'm not supposed to be here," he realized. (Trippy would have been proud.) "Rin…?" Minato comforted, for he was well acquainted with the girl even if she was being trained by a slightly different version of himself, "Rin, I'm sorry…" he reached out to her, "It's going to be okay now…" _Weren't you supposed to be on vacation?_

Rin sobbed uncontrollably as he took her in his arms, and Minato looked behind—luckily Kakashi had fallen to where he wouldn't fall off the tree assuming nobody made a sudden move. But behind the thick of his messy silver hair, there appeared to be a new scar over his left eye. "…What happened?" asked Minato.

"Obito," Rin murmured. "…Obito!"

.


	53. Really Grey 9

_Really Grey_

9.

"Minato!" Kushina gasped from the hokage's tower, sitting on the hokage's chair, her elbows on the hokage's desk, watching the hokage's crystal ball atop it's cushion. "Minato!"

She had seen his figure suddenly hurled from one place, a house, and then hurled to a different place entirely—Rin was there. Then, the scene flopped to a suna child getting candy from a dispenser at a fair. "Come ON, COME ON!" Kushina wailed, hoping the image would return to her husband. "Minato…!"

His image returned for a brief moment. But she could not hear what he was saying. Like a low, indiscernible hum, she pressed her ears and eyes to it, but she could not make out the words he was speaking to her—a terrible sobbing form of Rin. Kushina frowned when she saw Kakashi, too, lying broken on the branch. "…Obito," Kushina thought aloud, "Where's Obito?"

"Ma'am…?" spoke a young aide from around the corner.

"AW DARNIT!" The image was interrupted again. A dark laughing face. A sailboat. A fresh bun out of the oven. Shodaime Hokage passing out a medal at a ceremony—"WHAT THE HELL?"

The young man rushed forward, "Ma'am…?"

"Has it ever done that before?" She pointed incredulously.

"Done what?" asked the teenager Shiranui Genma.

"_That!_ The—The past! Has it ever shown the _past!"_

The boy had no ready answer.

"Oh fuck, and I just told Sarutobi-sama to go out into the village and tell people not to worry."

Young Genma blushed. For her sake.

"God dangit. Stay here. No wait. Come with me. We gotta go tell him."

"Yes ma'am."

.

"Tell me what?" Sarutobi and Danzou were looking at an odd version on Maito Gai, "She's here! Just outside Konohagakure!"

"Maito Gai, there's something I must explain to you about what is…going on…" said Sarutobi.

Gai looked up at him strangely.

"Time…has been…ripped."

"…Ripped?"

Sarutobi nodded, and explained, all the while noticing the same young man in a purple jumpsuit crossing a walk only two streets away…

.

Yondaime looked at the message again.

After taking care of the iwa shinobi, he was on his way back to his students, wondering if he'd run into Jiraiya along the way. "Jiraiya-sensei? In prison clothes?" Yondaime asked himself over and over. And why in the heck did Danzou think he had been asking about Sakumo? Without no further word—from anyone? But the iwa shinobi had taken precedence. And who knows. Jiraiya-sensei was always a practical joker. Minato didn't exactly put it past him to pull some crazy stunt like that…_but for what?_

Yondaime was catching the smell of blood on the wind. It was very faint, but he was coming toward it. Jounin Kakashi and the others should have been done by now, barring anything unforeseen. As it goes, a sick feeling, lodged into Minato's chest about the whole thing. Was Kakashi truly ready? Worse: had something gone _wrong…?_

.

…Minato was just setting Kakashi down on a raised surface near a large tree, shading the plateau when Yondaime came through the brush and gasped holy hell:

Minato looked up, "Oh my God."

Minato looked at Minato. "What the hell…?"

Minato froze, despite his efforts to assume an unassuming demeanor. Ha ha. He was failing miserably. "Um…Hi…"

"GET AWAY FROM MY STUDENTS!"

Rin backed away—Minato lunged at Minato.

"I can explain!" Minato said. "Wait!"

"Who are you, and what have you DONE to my students?"

"I'm you! I—" Minato thought fast, backing away from his own self holding a kunai. "I am you! I know that's difficult to believe," Minato had been hoping not to break his cover in front of Rin, but unfortunately, time was begin screwed so bad, he could not withhold it. "Something has happened to the time—the timeline. I was summoned here by Hiraishin, on a kunai. By accident. Not you-me, but me-me…Oh that doesn't make sense, but it has too, please believe me!" Me!

Yondaime stared.

And then all of sudden—

—_Flash_.

.

Minato stood in Trippy's presence.

"Oh my gosh…" the formerly masked ninja sighed a great sigh of relief. "It _worked!"_

Minato looked down.

"Are you all right? Where did you go? Who summoned you?"

Minato, at first, did not say anything.

Minato sat down, near Trippy and looked his arch-nemesis, tied up with a grin. "You're a dirty bastard." Minato did not use the crude phrase often.

Trippy looked back at him. The older man shrugged, smiling.

"How did you bring me back?"

"You had placed a seal on my ankle earlier. I added some of these symbols to it, and I was able to activate it."

"Really?" Minato looked at him with some eager surprise.

The Trippy Ninja nodded. "I think I'm getting closer to figuring this out."

"Careful…you may not have enough _tii-me_…" The old man murmured.

"What?" Both ninja looked at him.

"Oh my God Trippy, the explosive seal," said Minato all of sudden. "Is it…"

"Is it on a TIME-DELAY?" the both reacted.

The older man chuckled.

"YOU BASTARD!"

"I bet I activated it when the ceiling fan came down—it was all apart of his plan…"

"When A and B and C fail…in case X…you merry cheap bastard," said Trippy. "How DARE YOU DO THIS."

"I suggest you get a move on young man."

Trippy stood, his fist raised in the air about to strike hard when Minato stopped him, "This is all my fault," Minato atoned. "Please. Stay calm. There's still time."

"But how _much_ time?" asked Trippy.

The two men looked at the old man.

"Well, seeings-how you wasted about a half an hour already…I'd say thirty more minutes yet till…ka-plooey!" His blue smile showed.

"…"

.


	54. Really Grey 10

_Really Grey_

10.

"Oh my God, I can't—I can't do this in _thirty_ minutes—I…I—!"

Minato shook the formerly masked ninja gently on the shoulders. "Yes. You _can_," Minato offered him a pure smile of reassurance.

Trippy looked faint. Quite a bit of blood had exited down his face, leaving him appearing quite pale. "You can do it," Minato smiled. "Besides, you can blame me. I was the one that knocked down the ceiling fan."

"We bought it when we moved in."

"Shut up!" the ninja said in unison.

"Come on," Minato steered him over the scroll. "What can I do?"

Trippy opened his mouth, remembering the grand formula he was working on. "Well, I'm going to need you to write your seal. On what yet I'm not sure…" Trippy bent over and sat on the floor, hovering over the black ink. "Oh God…" he murmured. He could not see past a simple image of his daughter, right before his eyes, smiling, "Daddy!"

"Come on," Minato said again, holding him on the shoulder, "Show me."

.

"What in the hell just happened…?" asked Yondaime.

Rin stared at the new Minato-sensei a little fearfully. She said not a word. Minato looked around—"What happened here?"

Rin bit her lip. "Kakashi…" her throat was dry. "Obito…"

"Where is Obito?"

Rin turned her face away and sobbed.

.

Rin listened to the hokage explain it to Maito Gai when all of a sudden a tap on a shoulder made her inadvertently shriek: "AH!" Fearing it was another alternate version Gai, she was relieved it was only Obito. Throwing her arms around him in a quick hug, she noticed his shirt was torn in a few places. "Ha ha," he laughed, "Um, are you all right Rin?"

She nodded.

Just then, Kushina and the tower aide came running down the street. "SARUTOBI-SAMAAAA!" she said loudly, "THE CRYSTAL BALL!"

"What? What is it?"

"It…" she was panting to hard to speak now, "Showed…Sho…"

Nidaime turned the corner and stared at the ninja.

Might Gai pointed first, but he was shocked noticing his purple doppelganger. Then Sarutobi, Danzou, and Kushina looked on at the newest arrival on mainstreet. "Ni…daime…" they spoke in unison.

Obito and Rin looked at each other in utter astonishment.

Chiyo (who had recently beat up Sakumo) came marching in on this display exactly two seconds later, "AH-HAH, NOW WHAT DO YOU SAY, BROTHER? JIRAIYA, THEN SAKUMO! NOW NIDAIME HOKAGE! WHO THE HELL DO THEY THINK THEY ARE!"

"Ooo my…" Chiyo scrunched her nose, "Is that what I really sound like…?"

Jiraiya, Chiyo, and her traveling companions looked on at the other Chiyo and her other traveling companions.

Chiyo's brother looked at Chiyo's brother strangely.

Chiyo's guard looked at Chiyo's guard.

Chiyo looked at Chiyo.

Chiyo laughed, "Ha ha ha!"

Chiyo turned red. "WHAT THE HELL IN KAMI-SAMA'S NAME IS GOING ON HERE?"

"I'm you!" Chiyo smiled.

"What am I doing here?" Nidaime asked himself quietly.

"Why is there a purple me?" asked aquamarine Gai.

"Oh, hey, look, there's Nidaime," remarked Jiraiya.

"Jiraiya…" murmured Danzou, unable to see past a Jiraiya without prison clothes on.

"Hi all!" smiled Jiraiya cheerfully.

Chiyo was ready to blow. "WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?" she demanded, drawing several kunai in her hands underneath her traveling garb.

"Hold on me…" Chiyo grinned, amused by this phenomenon. "Don't be too hasty. We've all been caught in a great mishap."

"…Of time," supplied Sarutobi.

Chiyo (who had recently beat Sakumo very badly) looked at them each with suspicion. "You expect me to _believe_ that!"

"In my…time…Sakumo is dead."

"In mine," said Danzou, "He's alive…Tentatively, anyway…"

Rin gasped, looking at Obito.

"Right, and in my time, Suna and Konoha are allies…somewhat," Chiyo laughed.

"WHAT."

Chiyo nodded.

Jiraiya folded his arms, "This is kind of interesting, I have to say. If it wasn't half so serious, I'd suggest we'd all head down to the tavern and get ourselves thoroughly—"

"Jiraiya that's enough."

"Yes sensei."

Danzou scratched his head.

Nidaime stepped forward, "Have you a plan?"

"…Actually…"

Sarutobi grimaced. "Minato—"

"MINATO!" Kushina burst, remembering, "I TOTALLY JUST SAW MINATO. That's why I came to see you! He was summoned someplace…" she noticed Rin and Obito. "THEY were at Kannabi," she pointed. "Minato was summoned there. And then he was…He was back at the house…" she spoke now in growing confusion.

"…Rin. Obito," said Sarutobi, "…Gai. Genma. You are children. I know this is difficult to grasp, but if you could collect the other genin around here and keep them calm, you will be doing a great service."

They nodded slowly, and went off to obey.

"This is terrible," said Kushina regretfully.

Nidaime rested a heavy aged hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump and stiffen as he smiled an old smile, "I suppose we'll have to trust…Yondaime…?"

Sarutobi smiled, "Yes."

.

Tsunade looked at herself in disbelief.

Dan stood near her. Their child was with a nurse. "Dan, I don't know what to say," she trembled.

"Well. You don't have to say anything. I just hope all this blows over so I can get on with my life. _Alone_," he grumbled.

"Dan…Please…Isn't there someway you can—we can work it out?"

Dan looked at_ his_ Tsunade, until to his terror, _his_ Tsunade roused. Reluctantly, he held up a hand for Tsunade not to come close while he walked near the bedside of his wife. "Dan…" Tsunade heard herself whisper. "I'm sorry."

Dan shook his head, and walked out—down the hall. Tsunade watched him stop, pressing his forehead against the cool of the wall. Never in her life did Tsunade feel so helpless.

.

Kakashi took out something from his pocket and sighed, "How could I forget?" It was the medkit Rin had given him. "Doesn't matter now…"

"RIN! He's in HERE!"

Kakashi stood, put away the pouch, and stared at an aquamarine jumpsuit. "…Gai?"

"Yes?" A Gai in a purple jumpsuit appeared behind his identical twin.

Kakashi freaked.

"Kya-kya-shi! At least you're still here," the blue Gai smiled.

Kakashi rolled out a shake from his shoulder, "What the..."

"Kakashi!" said Rin, coming with Obito and Genma following close behind. "Will you come with us? Sandaime-sama told us to seek out the young genin, keep them calm."

Kakashi looked over his shoulder, in the direction of his father's room. "What's wrong?" Rin added gently.

"My mom's gone…again," He stuffed his hands in his pockets, "Fine, I'll come," he said a little reluctantly, keeping an eye on the two Gai.

"_My_ aunt is trying to murder my uncle," said Obito humorously…except it didn't really come out that way.

"Oh so that's why your clothes are all ripped," Kakashi observed.

"Hey you don't look so hot either."

"It was Chiyo," Kakashi growled.

"Oh, yes…she was outside meeting…" Rin shushed him, "Come on, let's go."

The six young people left the hospital.

Jiraiya met them on their way out, "Oh, hi again kiddies!"

All three of Minato's cell stared wearily while the blue Maito Gai smiled, "Hi Jiraiya-sama!"

"Hello …uh…who are you?"

"I'm Might Guy!" they both replied naturally in unison. Then they looked at each other precariously.

"Oh yes. Fuzzy brows. Is Tsunade still in here?"

Kakashi nodded.

"Awesome."

.

But as Jiraiya entered the hospital, he was greatly surprised to see one of his students there, taking to one of the nurses; "You weren't here before," Jiraiya remarked with a grin on his lips.

Minato brushed off his grey clothing. He had been in a fight. "Jiraiya-sensei?"

"Glad to know I'm still your sensei in another alternate reality."

"An alternate reality? So it's true? I must warn Kushina—this is nuts—"

"Don't waste your time—she already knows."

"Oh. Where is she?"

Jiraiya hesitated. "She's with Sarutobi, Danzou, and Nidaime with two sets of suna nin outside. Don't worry, they're all friendly," he pointed behind him with a lopsided grin.

"Wait…did you…say…Danzou…?"

"Um…yeah?"

"KUSHINAA!" The alternate Minato bowled over the staff and people, rushing outside.

Jiraiya chuckled.

.

Minato saw them all in the street and prepared to enter in as only a true ninja would: "Hiiiii…YAH!"

A flying kick rolled into Danzou's body.

The Chiyos were both equally astonished.

"Minaa-to…What's the meaning of this?" asked Sarutobi.

"SPY! SO IT'S YOU!"

Danzou defended himself, "Yondaime, what are you-?"

"Yon…dai…me…?" Minato hesitated.

"Oh sweet Lord," Kushina slapped her palm to her face, "Minato…" she said ruefully.

"Kushina! Stay back! I'll protect you! Be careful, all of you! He can issue the most _skilled_ genjutsu!"

Danzou's mouth was open, glancing at Sarutobi, but the utter silliness of the situation prevailed, and Chiyo finally found an enemy: "DANZOU!" Chiyo yelled her battle cry, and attacked.

"Oh my," said the placid Chiyo, "Ha…sorry!"

Minato suddenly became aware of the two identical women, and the two identical suna men. "KA! RELEASE!" shouted the man who would be Yondaime.

Nothing happened of course.

"…Huh? It must be too powerful! KAA!"

Again, Kushina buried her face while Sarutobi decided he would not stand by and watch Chiyo beat up the universe's only good Danzou. Chiyo also could not bear the sight of herself. So she decided to fight herself, "Take this, ME!"

The suna men shrugged; they fought each other.

Minato stepped in to take on Danzou, old Nidai stepped in to stop Minato.

"Oh yes," said Kushina, "Let's trust all this to my husband—OW!" Vengeful Chiyo had just thrown a shuriken at the red-haired kunoichi's feet—"Okay! YOU ARE GOING DOWN, LADY!"

.

Elsewhere, Gai, Gai, Genma, Kakashi, Rin, and Obito did not have to wander far to tag young Kurenai to their team. However, they soon found someone else had beaten them to their goal as they heard a snarky, lazy voice, "Hey, look, Asuma, more of them!"

Kakashi (even after meeting the two Gai) was now quite speechless. A tattooed, hollow, masked, thug-like delinquent version of himself wearing a Konohagakure headband on the wrong side of his forehead came into view alongside an equally tattooed, indignant, angry young form of Asuma, smoking. Next to him was a fiery dark-violet haired Mitarashi Anko, blowing a gum balloon from black lips.

"Holy…Moses…"

"Kakashi?" said Rin, in utter horror, hanging onto Obito's sleeve fearfully.

"Rin," thug Kakashi recognized. "What're you doing hangin' with these cheap imitations?" he smiled behind his mask, the leader of this gang.

Rin's eyes were wide, but she too had nothing to say.

"Kya-kya-shi…" muttered purple Gai, groaning.

"Asuma…" uttered blue Gai.

"Ha-ha, all the colors of the rainbow, Kakashi," Asuma grinned, cracking his knuckles. "We missed these two."

The two Gais looked at each other indignantly.

"Why am I such a punk?" Kakashi asked himself.

Obito turned behind him, realizing it was coming from his Kakashi and he smiled. "Funny, kid?" thug Kakashi disagreed. He stepped forward brazenly, "Let's see that Sharingan of yours, if you can muster it!"

Obito narrowed his eyes, "I always thought you bordered on incorrigible, but really," he smiled. "What do you say, Kakashi?" (For he sure as hell might not have done this alone.)

"What? And beat MYSELF up?" Kakashi exclaimed, "What the HELL!"

"What a pathetic version of me," Kakashi sneered. "You aren't even _worth_ my time."

"Boys…" Rin interjected but the thug Kakashi reached out and stroked her brown hair, "Rin, you're always too soft."

Obito grabbed Kakashi's arm. "No. Way."

Anko struck first.

Obito protected Rin, and Kakashi came up from the rear, attacking…himself.

"Kurenai—you too?" said punk Asuma in surprise of her surprise attack—Anko popped her gum—"I'll take her," she said, throwing shuriken to stop her advance. The blue Gai and Genma joined Kurenai and so did Rin while purple Gai remained with Kakashi and Obito fighting punk Kakashi and punk Asuma.

Their fight was not going well. Gangster Kakashi and gangster Asuma were seriously overpowering the three young leaf nin. "This is too much!" Obito cried, wishing his protection stone was working.

"I know, and it's only me! What the hell! How could I get that strong!" Kakashi added to Obito.

"Well, it looks like you bypassed conventional methods…" Obito dodged punk Kakashi's super-speed and Asuma's super-strength.

"Weaklings," said Kakashi.

The fight was going poorly for all non-gangsters involved until a kunai marked the entrance of another young man—this one half the size of Kakashi—"Kabuto! We were looking for you!" said punk Kakashi.

"YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING." Obito complained over the tattooed six year old. "HOW MANY OF YOU ARE THERE?"

"Ah, you know…" smiled Kakashi, admiring his group in line.

"Our leader went AWOL…" said Asuma.

"…And who the heck was that…?" said Kakashi, dreading the answer he guessed was coming.

"…Orochimaru!" proclaimed Anko proudly, flexing her snake tattoo on her bare arm.

"Orochimaru!" gasped Rin, looking at Kakashi, then alternate Kakashi.

"Augh!" bemoaned Obito, "Kakashi, you're crazy!"

Kakashi didn't really know who he was referring to, but, "Got any more friends?" he growled.

Thug Kakashi was about to respond when a flying kunai in front of Kakashi answered, "This will end here and _now_," said young Morino Ibiki firmly.

"Ibiki…!" Obito brightened.

He descended like a hawk from the roof of a building nearby, standing firm and resolute with the other teenagers.

"Well well," admired thug Kakashi, "Morino Ibiki."

"You're on our side, right…?" Obito whispered to him frantically.

Ibiki drew a kunai from his holster and held it out in front of Obito. He yelled. And attacked Kakashi. The thug version.

"…You know, you almost had me going there…!" Obito saw fit to mention while dodging Asuma's shuriken.

.


	55. Really Grey 11

_Really Grey_

11.

Trippy was writing very quickly. "Slow down," he told himself, pausing at intervals. "Get it right. Oh Kami-sama," he swallowed, "Oh God…"

Minato kept an eye on both the paper and Trippy's arch-nemesis, who was swaying back and forth leisurely, waiting to be reunited with his wife.

"I can't figure out this symbol!" said Trippy at last, pointing, "There! Is that cat, or rat? Or a dragonfly…no, maybe usagi…"

"Looks like…" Minato suddenly didn't know. It could have been anything. "Maybe it's nothing," said Trippy.

Minato looked at him strangely.

"What if it's an ink blot? And nothing?"

"Are you sure it doesn't look like your ass?"

Trippy swore very loudly at him.

Minato eased the atmosphere, "Calm now, calm…think."

"Yes…think…" said the ninja. He stared at the blob for a while (as much as he could afford). "My ass? Or an ink blot?" asked Trippy to the hokage suddenly. "It's not a symbol."

"Oh good. I was thinking…" Minato suddenly chose not to finish that sentence.

"Right," Trippy continued feverishly with his writing, copying some symbols.

"Time's running_ out_…"

Minato put a hand on Trippy's shoulder, urging him to ignore his arch-nemesis' taunts. The current hokage stood, and folded his arms over the old man's form. "Don't you feel any remorse?"

"It won't work hokage, just keep him quiet," said the formerly masked ninja, still writing, "You're wasting _your_ time."

The older man chuckled. "About what? I just want my family back."

Minato shook his head.

"Hokage. This symbol. Another ink blot?"

Minato turned, and looked it over where Trippy pointed. "Um…yeah."

"Be sure they're ink blots…"

"Grrr!" Trippy turned, "When I activate this, I am heading straight for this godforsaken shack, and you know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna…"

The older man chuckled.

Trippy swore.

"What?" said Minato, lost.

"I didn't account for you box."

"Hee hee hee, HA HA HA!"

Trippy growled.

Minato knelt down—"What?"

"This counter seal that I have created."

"…Yes…?"

"It's set…hopefully…to take us back to the moment before you activated your…Flying Thundergod technique, and my Flying Dragon technique."

"Yeah…so…?"

"He has that box. I don't know if…No. It can't. _Our_ jutsu collided," Trippy recounted, gesturing with his fingers. "That box acted as a temporary stabilizer. No _I'm_ right. I can't second-guess myself…Oh dear Kami-sama; I am so going to this house and _kicking_ your sorry _ass_."

"So wait—we'll remember this?"

"Of course we'll remember this."

"But Kushina won't—my wife?"

"No. We," he waggled his pointer finger between the two of them, "will be brought back to the moment in time where we were about to activate our seals. I won't. You won't. I'll go to his house and kick his ass. Then you'll wait for me, via a seal I am putting on you now—" He slapped his Flying Dragon seal on Minato's shoulder. "Got it?"

"Ok," Minato nodded, admiring his new tattoo.

Trippy wrote another symbol.

"How will we know if it…truly works?"

"That everybody's back where they should be?"

"Yeah."

"Well…we can't know. I don't even know if this will work…" the ninja moaned.

"…That's okay!" Minato smiled nervously.

"No it's not…I can't give you even sixty percent for sure. It's more like fifty-fifty at this point."

Minato's smile dropped. "…Those…are…our odds?"

"Hee hee hee, HA HA HA!"

"Yes, I'm very sorry those are our odds. I have never messed with time before."

Minato chewed the bottom of his lip.

"I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry. This is all my fault anyway. I placed the seal on your butt. I knocked down the ceiling fan."

Trippy thought, "Well, I suppose."

Minato deadpanned.

"Ready?"

"It's done?"

Trippy looked down, and added one more symbol. "Yep. Now it is. Oh. Wait, write your traveling seal. And write it for…wherever the heck you had been going. The one that was on my ass. Then write inside of it, your destination of home."

"…Huh…?"

"Like this," he showed on a large piece of scroll he'd torn off for scratch paper.

"…_HUH_…?"

Trippy deadpanned. "Do the best you can."

Minato was handed the ink pen, and all of a sudden, held it, shaking, in mid-air.

"Not so easy is it," offered the man sitting in the middle of the room. "Hee hee hee, ha ha ha, hee…"

"Bug off," said Trippy. "Well, come on. Just like I showed you."

"I'm…afraid…" Minato admitted.

"It has to be your writing. I can't do it…Ah, come on," said Trippy, "I believe in you. We're one of a kind you and I, remember?"

Minato shut his eyes. Kushina looked in the fridge, "MINNAAATOOOO!"

Minato started writing.

"Very good," Trippy took the ink, and wrote three concluding symbols to all the aforementioned, "My seal, your seal, and a whole slew of symbols, we're ready. Doggy-chan, watch your master, make sure he doesn't do anything, we're going outside."

The older man looked at the two, sweating a little now alongside his cheeks, curious over their attempt.

Trippy opened the door, and out poured the sunshine. "Put your hand on the scroll, yes, here—" "IT WON'T WORK! YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO REVERSE WHAT'S COMING!" "I put my hand HERE."

"IT WON'T WORK, TIME'S UP!"

"…Activate you jutsu in 1, 2, 3, 4…..**NOW**…!"

"FLYING THUNDERGOD!"—

"FLYING DRAGON!"—

**BOOM.**

.

.

.

.


	56. An Explosion of Color

_An Explosion of Color_

The ball exploded with light. The aide who was left, Aoba, shielded his eyes, "AHHHHH!"

Suddenly, daylight turned dark. Then it was noon again. Then it was midnight. Noon. Night. Noon. Night. Noon. Night. Noon. Night. Noon…The flip-flopping eventually settled. Aoba shook in his shoes. Night.

Aoba looked around. Night. It was definitely night.

.

Minato and Trippy were passing each other in a high-speed boulevard of light and colors. "Activate… activate…Now…NOW…!" Trippy's words echoed in the hokage's mind, except Trippy wasn't speaking. He was flying. Same as Minato. Minato could not speak. The air around him compressed his voice and his body. Green and white shadows sped around him faster than anything he'd seen before. Blues and reds leapt out at them like angry arms. Colors tried to wrap themselves around them. He looked over in the direction of Trippy, who was faring no better than he. "Hold on," Minato mouthed. Trippy looked quite pale.

Then all of a sudden, Minato hit the ground.

He was alone in his landing.

It was also very painful.

Minato wheezed, gasping for air. The colors around him were a merry dark blur. The hokage gasped, desperately gulping for air, coming up on one arm—oh good, he still had the other.

.


	57. Good Old Black 1

_Good Old __Black_

1.

Oh good, he still had his other arm. He needed that other arm. It came in handy.

It was bruised; he was surprised it wasn't broken for how hard he came down on it.

Finally the wind entered back into his lungs and someone opened the door from a brown little shack—it was his little shack, and his little red-haired wife who came out, "MINAATOO! What are you doing here! What are you doing on the ground! I thought you activated your jutsu! You disappeared, and then I thought I heard a giant THUMP."

The six Kushina's finally separated into one. Utterly relieved he was only seeing one now after rubbing his eyes, "That…that THUMP…was…me…" he smiled, heartened to see her no matter which Minato she might have belonged to. "Did…Did it work?" he asked out loud. "Did it work?"

"Obviously it didn't. What happened to your jutsu?"

"No…No…" Minato was sitting on the ground, all his clothes still on his back, all his gear still attached to him. "Did what we _did_ work…"

Kushina stared at him rather blankly. "What do you mean what 'we' did. We didn't do anything tonight."

Minato tried to stand…he failed. "Sweetheart…?" Kushina looked at him worriedly, "Oh my God, what's wrong?"

"Nothing…sort of…" Minato breathed more steadily now. "Trippy…Ninja…? Where are you…?"

"Trippy Ninja?" Kushina questioned. "Minato, did you eat all those sweets already?"

"No, Kushina!" Minato exclaimed. "Look, it's a long story. But I need to contact someone."

"Uh-huh…" Kushina stared mirthlessly.

"Trippy…?"

"Who or what is Trippy Ninja! Did you read too many comic books again?"

"Kushina," said Minato seriously, "Something of great consequence has just occurred. Yes. My jutsu failed. I spent _days_ making it right. Now I am here again, right where I left, hopefully."

She looked at him in wonderment.

"I realize it's a lot to take in, but you must trust me. There's some people I need to speak to before I head out to rendezvous with the leaf ninja."

"Um…..okay…"

.


	58. Good Old White 1

_Good Old __White_

1.

It happened while Sarutobi was coming inside. The light show was surreal. Kakashi was there waiting for him with a mission report.

"Did you see that?"

"See what, sir?"

"The lights. Outside."

Kakashi blinked, having been near a window the whole time…"No, sir…"

"…Oh. Ok."

"My mission report, sir," said Kakashi, nodding at the scroll he had placed on Sandaime's old desk.

"…Right…" said Sarutobi, briefly scratching his head, noticing the calm crystal sphere.

.

Orochimaru didn't see it.

.

Jiraiya and Tsunade didn't see it.

.

Kabuto didn't see.

.

Mikoto thought she saw the Aurora Borealis. Fugaku told her to go back to sleep.

"But I thought I saw Sakumo's wife, the other day…And Sakumo, _too_…"

"It was a dream," he grumbled, and rolled over.

"Shouldn't you be at work…?"

"Good God woman, I took the night off…"

"Oh…okay…"

.

Nobody else saw…

.

Chiyo saw it though. Chiyo looked around in a daze. "What were those lights?"

"It was more like colors than lights."

"It was blinding."

"It was weird."

"What were we doing?"

"I thought I saw Nidaime."

Chiyo and the guard looked at her brother.

"…What? I did. When we were…" his finger pointed south, but he dropped it soon enough.

"Pfffshaw…Your nuts," said Chiyo. "How could you see Nidaime out through a puking rainbow of colors like that? Come on, let's get out of the land of waves."

"Oh right…" said the guard, shaking the momentary fog of confusion from his brain.

Chiyo's brother swallowed. "Weird…"

.


	59. Good Old Black 2

_Good Old __Black_

2.

Sakumo wondered why he felt fine.

He leaned forward in the porch swing at the back of the house he vaguely remembered sitting on. He took a good look around. And then it occurred to him to look at his body and he held up his hands:

No blood.

.

Minato was finally able to walk a minute later, "Take it easy…" Minato ignored her a little and waited.

Then, all of a sudden, a small bird summons appeared with a smile, "Trippy says hello!"

"Oh, hi!" said Minato, watching her land on their rim of the gutter.

"He says he thinks it worked."

"Thinks?" Minato questioned.

"Yes," she nodded her beak up and down cheerfully.

Minato groaned a little, "Is he okay?"

"Yes! Trippy dispelled the note, and went straight to his rival's house and kicked him in the…ah…butt. He destroyed the box, and all the seals."

"…Can Trippy come to Konohagakure?"

"He will be on his way."

"Good. We'll go to the gates." Minato started moving.

"Oh! One more thing mister hokage!" flapped the bird.

"What?"

"He asked me to take your dumplings."

Minato deadpanned.

The bird seemed to smile slyly.

Kushina muttered to her husband, "I think you made a lousy friend with…what's his name."

"Actually, I never got his name. I've been calling him trippy ninja."

"Ah. I see."

.

Tsunade couldn't sleep. "But I could have sworn I saw some lights."

Dan smiled, "It was just a dream sweetheart, go back to bed."

.

Jiraiya and Orochimaru were underground. They saw nothing.

.

Chiyo sat upright in the hotel room in Konohagakure. "Hey, hey, guys."

The guard sat upright though he was still half-asleep.

Her brother mumbled, "Whaddaa-huh…sister, dear…?"

"What happened."

"You _woke_ us up," the guard said boldly.

"No, no, _before_ that..."

"…What? What is it sister?"

"Didn't you guys see the lights? The colors? It looked like a rainbow on steroids. No, it _was_ a rainbow—blues…reds…white…black and navy…And we were all together in Konohagakure, alternate versions of us. Do I really sound so awful?" she said, remembering her vengeful, excited other self.

She noticed the men looking at her, terrified in shock and awe, not understanding a word of it.

Chiyo blinked. "Huh. Guess you missed that…"

.

Kabuto looked around his room, inspecting his sheets and furniture and toys and then himself. "Strange…"

.

Mikoto saw nothing.

.

Fugaku definitely wasn't talking aloud to himself—"…GAAAH!"

.

Obito was leisurely day-dreaming for Rin's return.

.

And Sakumo's wife woke up, briefly; "He must be sitting on the porch…"

.

"Tomorrow, I'm gonna buy myself some sunglasses." said Aoba, shaking his head.

.


	60. Good Old White 2

_Good Old White_

2.

"Tomorrow, I'm gonna buy myself some sunglasses," said Aoba, sitting upright in bed, shaking his head.

.

Obito was dreaming about Kannabi.

.

After Kakashi left, Homura walked in with the list of new genin. Sarutobi was sitting at his desk, watching over the crystal ball, a calm mauve ocean tonight.

"Is everything all right?" asked Homura, noticing the strong attention his old colleague was placing on it tonight.

Sarutobi picked up his pipe. "You're quite right you know. A relic like this deserves it's secrets."

Baffled, Homura looked at his friend expectantly as Sarutobi said again, "Yes," standing, smiling, "Everything is just fine now."

.


	61. Good Old Black 3

_Good Old Black_

3.

Minato met Trippy outside the gates, "Did it work?"

"Oh, Thank you for introducing me! This is your wife?"

"Kushina…yes…Forgive me…"

"Kushina, please to meet you! I was told you were a shuriken."

In response, she hit Minato very hard upside the head.

"You deserved that," added Trippy. "Since all of it—or most of it was_ your_ fault as _you_ _admitted_…"

"DID IT WORK."

"Yes…"

"What…is that a one-hundred percent, 'yes' or a ninety-nine percent yes? Don't tell me it's a sixty percent 'yes'…"

"Well, from what I've gathered in the village near where we live, some people saw lights, and some people remembered what happened as a dream. Again. Fifty-fifty," he smiled.

"Oh, super," said Minato unenthusiastically, "So it failed."

"No. Actually, I don't think it did. I think we did it."

"…Really?"

His bird summon flew overhead, dropping the good size bag of sweets in his hand. "Yep. I think we did it." Trippy grinned to himself.

Minato smiled, "Ha ha…very funny."

"So…hold…" said Kushina. "You and this masked fellow…did what, exactly?"

"Restore time," Trippy opened the back and stuffed a dumpling in his face.

Kushina twirled. "Mm-hm…"

Minato couldn't help but let out a laugh.

"Well," Trippy took off his mask once more, "This is farewell for now," he smiled.

"Oh, is that—is my seal still on your…"

"Actually, it's gone, believe it or not."

"Oh really?"

"Really!"

"Oh good. And how's your daughter?"

"She's well, thank you! I do not wish to leave her away so long, I should be getting back."

Minato outstretched his hand, "Farewell," he smiled.

"Goodbye," said Trippy with a smile, shaking the hokage's hand. "Would you…would you come by and see us sometime?"

"I'd love to," said Yondaime.

"Well…Adieu!"

"Bye."

"Oh, and next time you place a seal on a rock…"

"Yes, I'll make sure it's not a person."

"Very good hokage, very good…Take care."

"Take care."

Minato turned to Kushina as the figure went away, mask, cloak, bird, dumplings, and all. He was ready to explain things to her but she held up her open face of her palm the moment he opened his mouth. "I don't want to know, actually," she said. "Maybe in time. But not right now. And speaking of right now, do you have to go…?"

"I think I'll go talk to Sarutobi-sama first, and then leave…again. Except this time, I'm going to have to make it there on foot."

"…Oh," Kushina frowned, "Okay."

"It was quite an adventure though," Minato admitted.

Kushina smiled, "Can I go with you, to see Sandaime?"

"Sure. I'd love the company," he smiled, looking at her fondly. "I missed you."

"Ah," she smiled. For it had only been a few seconds and he had returned as soon as he left. "I missed you too!"

Minato smiled, taking her close by the arm, and they walked on. "Sorry about your sweets, by the way…"

"Aw, it's okay. I guess you had that coming."

"I guess I did."

Minato veered his head away, suddenly wondering if that look on his wife's face was seriocomically plastered there or not.

She grinned.

He leaned in to rest his head against her when she whacked him once more.

"Ha ha…that feels good…" said Minato, looking at her after missing her so much.

Kushina smiled strangely. She stepped on his foot. "How did that feel?"

"_Ow_—_Kushinaa_…"

"Okay, _now_ we're all back to normal."

.


	62. Good Old Black 4

_Good Old Black_

4.

Minato was gone. Toward Kannabi and the fifty iwa nin. "All is well again," Sarutobi remarked to the Hatake as two gulls flew overhead. "So he told me," with a precarious smile.

It was the next evening.

"I have been running it over again and again in my head," said Sakumo. "I swear to God I died."

Sarutobi frowned, "Danzou said he saw some lights, but I didn't…"

"I died," Sakumo repeated. "Or at least I almost did. By my own hand. Chiyo. A different Chiyo tried to kill me. She also saved my life. It was no dream. It _happened_."

"Well. Sounds crazy."

Sakumo nodded. "…It got me thinking," he said seriously, "What if this is it? What I don't exist in another…timeline or alternate universe or whatever the hell this world is made of. What if this is all I have? I never really realized it before… I don't want to waste it anymore."

"…Wise decision for a man soon approaching fifty," Sarutobi smiled.

"Yeah. Well," he said lightly, "Better late than never."

.

.

.

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.

_Caliko _


End file.
